Zebrafish Avatar testing preclinical study predicts chemotherapy response in breast cancer
Chemotherapy remains the mainstay in most high-risk breast cancer (BC) settings, with several equivalent options of treatment. However, the efficacy of each treatment varies between patients and there is currently no test to determine which option will be the most effective for each individual patient. Here, we developed a fast in-vivo test for BC therapy screening: the zebrafish patient-derived-xenograft model (zAvatars), where in-vivo results can be obtained in just 10 days. To determine the predictive value of the BC zAvatars we performed a preclinical study, where zAvatars were treated with the same therapy as the donor-patient and their response to therapy was compared. Our data show a 100% concordance (18 out of 18) between the zAvatar-test and the corresponding patient's clinical response to treatment. Altogether, our results suggest that the zAvatar model constitutes a promising in-vivo assay to optimize cancer treatments in a truly personalized manner.
Authors
- Berta Sousa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2287-4799)
- Cátia Rebelo de Almeida (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3617-4470)
- Fátima Cardoso (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6692-2249)
- María José Brito (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0746-2040)
- Maria João Cardoso (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8137-3700)
- Pedro Gouveia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5600-2783)
- Helena Gouveia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0841-194X)
- Rita Fior (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5550-2428)
- Joana Ribeiro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8571-9695)
- Celeste Alves (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0331-8319)
- Mireia Castillo-Martín (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8926-6013)
- Miguel Godinho Ferreira (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8363-7183)
- Rita Canas‐Marques (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7184-4230)
- Raquel V. Mendes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2113-4318)
- Eva Batista (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9076-4132)
Institutions
- Champalimaud Foundation (PT)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- University of Lisbon (PT)
- Inserm (FR)
- Université Côte d'Azur (FR)
- Institut Gustave Roussy (FR)
- Institut de Recherche sur le Cancer et le Vieillissement de Nice (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- npj Precision Oncology
- Published
- 2025-04-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41698-025-00882-0
- Citations
- 8
- Primary Topic
- Cell Image Analysis Techniques
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 13.07
Funders
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- Fundação Champalimaud
- Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia