Abstract B007: Optimization of an Orthotopic Mouse Model of Pancreatic Cancer to Simulate Liver Metastasis and Cancer Cachexia

Abstract Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly aggressive disease with a poor prognosis due to two key features. The first is metastasis at presentation, occurring in approximately 80% of PDAC patients, with 90% of these metastases occurring in the liver. The second is cachexia, which compromises treatment tolerance and reduces the quality of life for patients. Although various mouse models of PDAC exist, recapitulating both metastatic and cachectic features have been challenging. In this study, we optimized an orthotopic mouse model of PDAC by altering implantation sites, subcloning parental murine PDAC cells, adjusting the number of transplanted cells, and varying the age of recipient mice to study liver metastasis and cancer cachexia. These modifications significantly increased the latency of tumor development and the time course of the disease, concurrently increasing the rate of liver metastasis to approximately 70%. Furthermore, reliable cachexia endpoints were also achieved in both PDAC mice with and without metastases, mirroring the condition in patients. We also found that cachectic muscles from PDAC mice with metastasis exhibit a similar transcriptional profile to muscles derived from mice and patients without metastasis. Together, this model is likely to be advantageous in both advancing our understanding of the mechanisms of PDAC cachexia and in evaluating novel therapeutics. Citation Format: David J Wang, Victoria Spadafora, Benjamin R Pryce, Alexander Oles, Erin E Talbert, Micheal C Ostrowski, Denis C Guttridge. Optimization of an Orthotopic Mouse Model of Pancreatic Cancer to Simulate Liver Metastasis and Cancer Cachexia abstract. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research: Advances in Pancreatic Cancer Research; 2024 Sep 15-18; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84 (17 Suppl₂): Abstract nr B007.