Malignant pleural mesothelioma organoids and patients derived xenografts (PDX): new frontiers of in vivo and in vitro models to study drug sensitivity and tumor environment

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare and aggressive cancer with poor prognosis. A therapeutic gold-standard does not exist, so the treatment is still object of investigations. Clinicians and researchers need to improve efforts in precision medicine oncology using new model systems. Since the inflammatory and immunological MPM context is crucial, organoids and Patient-Derived Xenografts (PDX) can be a model for a better knowledge of tumor microenvironment and for testing the efficacy of new therapeutic options. The final goal is to use them as a tool to predict response to anti-cancer drugs in individual patients.