Starting in 1986, the European School of Oncology has expanded its activities in post graduate teaching, which consisted mainly of traditional disease-orientated courses, by promoting new educational initiatives. One of these is the cloister seminars, short meet ings intended for highly qualified oncologists and dealing with specific, controversial aspects of clinical practice and research. Another is the institution of permanent study groups, also called task forces, where a limited number of leading experts are invited to meet once a year with the aim of defining the state of the art and possibly reaching a consensus on developments and treatment in specific fields of oncology. This series of ESO Monographs was designed with the specific purpose of disseminat ing the results of the most interesting of the seminars and study groups, and providing concise and updated reviews of the subjects discussed. It was decided to keep the layout very simple in order to keep costs to a minimum and make the monographs available in the shortest possible time, thus overcoming a com mon problem in medical literature: that of the material being outdated even before publication. Umberto Veronesi Chairman, Scientific Committee European School of Oncology Position Paper on the Application of Human Tumour Xenografts as a Model for Preclinical Phase" Studies in the Evaluation of New Anticancer Compounds Outcome of a seminar on Human Tumour Xenografts organised by the European School of Oncology, Milan, 26th-27th May, 1986.

Klappentext

This monograph covers the latest information on the role of human tumour xenografts in the development of anticancer drugs. This model has been used in various experimental studies on human tumour morphology, biology, biochemistry and antitumour therapy. Due to the fact that each individual tumour largely retains its characteristics through serial transplantation in the immune-deficient mouse, this model proves to be particulary valuable in the development of anticancer drugs. The discussion is based on a meeting of the European School of Oncology and the conclusions reached seem to warrant a pilot study for preclinical phase II studies.

Inhalt
I. Biological Behaviour of Human Tumours Transplanted in Mice and the Evaluation of Therapeutic Response.- The Therapeutic Response of a Variety of Human Tumour Xenografts.- Biology of Human Ovarian Cancer Xenografts.- Representativity of Xenografts for Clinical Cancer. Tumor and Host Characteristics as Variables of Tumor Take Rate.- II. Prediction of Tumour Response for the Individual Patient by the Human Tumour Xenograft.- Comparison of Tumor Response in Nude Mice and in Patients.- III. Prediction of Antitumour Activity per Tumour Type by the Human Tumour Xenograft.- Conventional Agents in Human Ovarian Cancer Xenografts.- Activity of Conventional Drugs in Head and Neck Cancer Xenografts.- Preclinical Drug Evaluation with Human Melanoma Xenografts.- Lung Xenografts as a Predictive Screen for Antineoplastic Agents.- Chemotherapy Studies in Human Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Xenografts Transplanted in Immune-Deprived Mice.- Establishment and Response to Chemotherapy of Human Cervical Carcinoma Xenografts.- The Usefulness of the Nude Mouse Model for Predicting the Chemosensitivity of Human Tumors. Studies in Malignant Melanoma.- IV. Preclinical Evaluation of Analogs of Known Anticancer Agents.- Screening of Analogs in Human Ovarian Cancer Xenografts.- Predictability of Clinical Response of Several Human and Murine Tumor Models to Four Anthracycline Derivatives.- V. New Drugs.- Activity of Six New Drugs in Head and Neck Cancer Xenografts.- Activity of Metallocene Complexes Against Human Tumours Heterotransplanted into Athymic Mice.- VI. Human Tumour Xenografts in the Development of Biological Response Modifiers.- The Effect of Human and Murine Interferons on Human Tumour Xenografts.- Biodistribution and Therapeutic Efficacy of a Monoclonal Antibody-Methotrexate Conjugate inMice.- The Effect of Interferon-Alpha on the Activity of Cytotoxic Drugs in Bronchial Carcinoma Xenografts.- The Nude Mouse for the Study of Immunotoxins.- VII. Human Tumour Xenografts in Drug Screening.- Proposal for the Application of Xenografts in Screening for New Anticancer Agents and in Selecting Tumor Types for Phase II Clinical Trials.- Human Tumour Xenograft Models for Use with an In Vitro-Based, Disease-Oriented Antitumour Drug Screening Program.- VIII. Importance of Drug Resistance in Screening.- Mechanisms of Drug Resistance in Screening.- Circumvention of Inherent Resistance with Verapamil in a Human Tumour Xenograft.- IX. Proferred Papers at the E. S. O. Seminar.- Clonogenic Assay Screening Study Group (CASSG): Contribution to an EORTC Drug Screening Programme.- Polyamine Uptake by Malignant Brain Tumour Xenografts in Nude Mice.- The Activity for a Novel Niteosourea (TCNU) in Human Lung Cancer Xenografts.- Xenografts in Pharmacologically Immunosuppressed Mice as a Model to Test the Chemotherapeutic Sensitivity of Human Tumours.- New Tissue-Specific Metastasis Models in Adult Nude Mice.- Fractionated Irradiation of Human Tumor Xenografts in Athymic Nude Mice.- An Animal Model for Human Tumor Xenografts.- Xenografted Human Tumors in Preclinical Drug Design.- Growth in Nude Mice of a T-Cell Line from a Case of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia: A Model for Experimental Immunotherapy of Human Neoplasia.- 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) + Cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (DDP) Treatment of Human Colorectal Tumor Xenografts.- Inter and Intra-Tumor Variation in the Response to Chemotherapy of Human Small Cell Carcinoma of the Lung (SCCL) Grown in Nude Mice.- Human Carcinoma Cell Lines Xenografted in Athymic Mice: Biological and Antigenic Characterization of an Intra-Abdominal Model.- Squamous Cell Carcinoma Xenografts as a Model for the Study of Drug-Induced Cell Kinetic Changes in Head and Neck Cancer.