Establishment of a cryopreserved tissue bank and a xenografting facility for pancreatic cancer

We assessed the suitability of cryopreserved neoplastic tissues forxenografting into nude mice by comparing the take rate in 21 samples ofpancreatic cancer. Twelve fresh samples were directly implanted in mu/numice while nine were frozen in cryopreserving solution and implanted ata later time. A total of 11 tumors grew in the animals, six from thefreshly implanted samples and five from those cryopreserved. Our resultsdemonstrate that the take rate for xenografting is comparable betweencryopreserved and fresh tissue samples, and thus it is possible tocreate a neoplastic tissue bank whose cellular component can be vitallycryopreseved. The procedure allows for the exchange of tumor materialbetween institutions and permits the establishment of centralizedfacilities for the storage of an array of different primary tumorsamples suitable for the production of in vivo models of cancers.