Leveraging preclinical models of metastatic breast cancer

Abstract

Women that present to the clinic with established breast cancer metastases have limited treatment options. Yet, the majority of preclinical studies are actually not directed at developing treatment regimens for established metastatic disease. In this review we will discuss the current state of preclinical macro-metastatic breast cancer models, including, but not limited to syngeneic GEMM, PDX and xenografts. Challenges within these models which are often overlooked include fluorophore-immunogenic neoantigens, differences in experimental vs spontaneous metastasis and tumor heterogeneity. Furthermore, due to cell plasticity in the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) of the metastatic landscape, the treatment efficacy of newly approved immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) may differ in metastatic sites as compared to primary localized tumors.