npj Breast Cancer (Apr 2024)
Rapid autopsies to enhance metastatic research: the UPTIDER post-mortem tissue donation program
- Tatjana Geukens,
- Maxim De Schepper,
- Wouter Van Den Bogaert,
- Karen Van Baelen,
- Marion Maetens,
- Anirudh Pabba,
- Amena Mahdami,
- Sophia Leduc,
- Edoardo Isnaldi,
- Ha-Linh Nguyen,
- Imane Bachir,
- Maysam Hajipirloo,
- Gitte Zels,
- Josephine Van Cauwenberge,
- Kristien Borremans,
- Vincent Vandecaveye,
- Birgit Weynand,
- Peter Vermeulen,
- Eleonora Leucci,
- Maria Francesca Baietti,
- George Sflomos,
- Laura Battista,
- Cathrin Brisken,
- Patrick W. B. Derksen,
- Thijs Koorman,
- Daan Visser,
- Colinda L. G. J. Scheele,
- Daniela S. Thommen,
- Sigrid Hatse,
- Sarah-Maria Fendt,
- Evy Vanderheyden,
- Thomas Van Brussel,
- Rogier Schepers,
- Bram Boeckx,
- Diether Lambrechts,
- Giuseppe Marano,
- Elia Biganzoli,
- Ann Smeets,
- Ines Nevelsteen,
- Kevin Punie,
- Patrick Neven,
- Hans Wildiers,
- François Richard,
- Giuseppe Floris,
- Christine Desmedt
Affiliations
- Tatjana Geukens
- Laboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology
- Maxim De Schepper
- Laboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology
- Wouter Van Den Bogaert
- Department of Forensic Medicine, University Hospitals Leuven
- Karen Van Baelen
- Laboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology
- Marion Maetens
- Laboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology
- Anirudh Pabba
- Laboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology
- Amena Mahdami
- Laboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology
- Sophia Leduc
- Laboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology
- Edoardo Isnaldi
- Laboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology
- Ha-Linh Nguyen
- Laboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology
- Imane Bachir
- Laboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology
- Maysam Hajipirloo
- Laboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology
- Gitte Zels
- Laboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology
- Josephine Van Cauwenberge
- Laboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology
- Kristien Borremans
- Laboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology
- Vincent Vandecaveye
- Department of Radiology, University Hospitals Leuven
- Birgit Weynand
- Department of Pathology, University Hospitals Leuven
- Peter Vermeulen
- Centre for Oncological Research (CORE), University of Antwerp
- Eleonora Leucci
- TRACE and Laboratory for RNA Cancer Biology, Department of Oncology
- Maria Francesca Baietti
- TRACE and Laboratory for RNA Cancer Biology, Department of Oncology
- George Sflomos
- ISREC - Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
- Laura Battista
- ISREC - Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
- Cathrin Brisken
- ISREC - Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
- Patrick W. B. Derksen
- Department of Pathology, University Medical Center
- Thijs Koorman
- Department of Pathology, University Medical Center
- Daan Visser
- Department of Pathology, University Medical Center
- Colinda L. G. J. Scheele
- Laboratory of Intravital Microscopy and Dynamics of Tumor Progression, Department of Oncology, VIB-KU Leuven Center for Cancer Biology
- Daniela S. Thommen
- Division of Molecular Oncology and Immunology, Netherlands Cancer Institute
- Sigrid Hatse
- Laboratory of Experimental Oncology, Department of Oncology
- Sarah-Maria Fendt
- Laboratory of Cellular Metabolism and Metabolic Regulation, VIB-KU Leuven Center for Cancer Biology, VIB
- Evy Vanderheyden
- Laboratory for Translational Genetics, Department of Human Genetics, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, and VIB Center for Cancer Biology
- Thomas Van Brussel
- Laboratory for Translational Genetics, Department of Human Genetics, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, and VIB Center for Cancer Biology
- Rogier Schepers
- Laboratory for Translational Genetics, Department of Human Genetics, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, and VIB Center for Cancer Biology
- Bram Boeckx
- Laboratory for Translational Genetics, Department of Human Genetics, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, and VIB Center for Cancer Biology
- Diether Lambrechts
- Laboratory for Translational Genetics, Department of Human Genetics, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, and VIB Center for Cancer Biology
- Giuseppe Marano
- Unit of Medical Statistics, Biometry and Epidemiology, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences (DIBIC) “L. Sacco” & DSRC, LITA Vialba campus, Università degli Studi di Milano
- Elia Biganzoli
- Unit of Medical Statistics, Biometry and Epidemiology, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences (DIBIC) “L. Sacco” & DSRC, LITA Vialba campus, Università degli Studi di Milano
- Ann Smeets
- Department of Surgical Oncology, University Hospitals Leuven
- Ines Nevelsteen
- Department of Surgical Oncology, University Hospitals Leuven
- Kevin Punie
- Department of General Medical Oncology, University Hospitals Leuven
- Patrick Neven
- Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospitals Leuven
- Hans Wildiers
- Department of General Medical Oncology, University Hospitals Leuven
- François Richard
- Laboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology
- Giuseppe Floris
- Department of Pathology, University Hospitals Leuven
- Christine Desmedt
- Laboratory for Translational Breast Cancer Research, Department of Oncology
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41523-024-00637-3
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 10,
no. 1
pp. 1 – 14
Abstract
Abstract Research on metastatic cancer has been hampered by limited sample availability. Here we present the breast cancer post-mortem tissue donation program UPTIDER and show how it enabled sampling of a median of 31 (range: 5-90) metastases and 5-8 liquids per patient from its first 20 patients. In a dedicated experiment, we show the mild impact of increasing time after death on RNA quality, transcriptional profiles and immunohistochemical staining in tumor tissue samples. We show that this impact can be counteracted by organ cooling. We successfully generated ex vivo models from tissue and liquid biopsies from distinct histological subtypes of breast cancer. We anticipate these and future findings of UPTIDER to elucidate mechanisms of disease progression and treatment resistance and to provide tools for the exploration of precision medicine strategies in the metastatic setting.
