# Advancing Precision Oncology in a Humanized, Fully Autologous Mouse Model

> **NIH NIH R01** · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $612,841

## Abstract

Progress in the early detection and treatment of cancer requires accurate model systems to further evaluate
new, promising discoveries. Small animal, and in particular mouse, model systems are attractive to researchers
for numerous reasons, including their ease of use and well-described platforms. Immunotherapy has
revolutionized clinical oncology, but lacks pre-clinical models of the human immune system and human cancer
to investigate new modalities and limitations/toxicities of treatment regimens. The ability to grow human tumors
in immune-deficient mice (so-called patient-derived xenografts, or PDXs) allows researchers to work directly with
human cancer tissue in a controlled setting. However, PDX models are limited by their lack of an intact immune
system. The broad objective of this proposal is to validate an in vivo model to evaluate human tumors in the
context of a complete and intact human immune system in a completely personalized and autologous
fashion to study cancer immunotherapy. Herein, we propose to: (1) validate the ability of our humanized
system to serve as a model for cancer immunotherapy treatment response and toxicity in patients with
melanoma, including immunotherapy checkpoint blockade and vaccine strategies, and to (2) extend our current
work in melanoma by validating the ability to establish humanized mice and evaluate tumor growth and leukocyte
development in autologous human pancreatic and colorectal tumors established in humanized mice.
In each of these areas, we will leverage our multi-institutional team's individual expertise along with our
institutional infrastructure to maximize the success of the experimental aims. The results from this project will
made widely available to the general research community for future, hypothesis-driven research. Taken together,
the studies described in this research proposal will meet multiple goals and address several unmet needs
identified in this grant opportunity, thus significantly enhancing the applicability of a fully autologous and
immunocompetent precision model system for use in translational oncology research.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9946485
- **Project number:** 1R01CA248277-01
- **Recipient organization:** WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Ryan C Fields
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $612,841
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-03-01 → 2025-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9946485

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9946485, Advancing Precision Oncology in a Humanized, Fully Autologous Mouse Model (1R01CA248277-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9946485. Licensed CC0.

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