Project Title: PAtient-derived Lung cancer Models Study (PALMS)

Project Duration: 2005-Present

MOHCCN Consortium: Princess Margaret Cancer Consortium

Investigators: Geoffrey Liu, Ming-Sound Tsao

Partners:

• Princess Margaret Cancer Centre

Aim/goals:

The PALMS cohort includes lung cancer patients whose tumour (early-stage resectable or metastatic) have been used to establish patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models and/or organoid cell lines. The ability for the patient tumour to establish PDX is strongly correlated with aggressive clinical outcome. Therefore, once molecularly characterized, the PDXs represent excellent models to study molecular features that determine poor clinical outcome (prognosis), tumour heterogeneity, biomarkers of targeted or immunotherapy drug sensitivity, and mechanisms of drug resistance. The goals include using whole genome and transcriptomic data to understand:

1. The heterogeneity and clonal composition of lung cancer and identify molecular features of tumour clones that are likely to give rise to metastases and drug response.
2. The role of genomic or clonal heterogeneity in drug response profile of patients versus matched PDX models.
3. Biomarkers that are predictive of concordant and discordant drug response in patient versus PDX or matched organoid models.
4. How PDX/organoid models can be better used for developing new therapies to overcome drug resistance.

Summary:

PALMS is an initiative to use deep genomic and transcriptomic sequencing, drug response data and patient-derived models to improve predictive precision medicine in lung cancer.