Experimental
teratoma induced from human pluripotent stem cells with normal karyotype can be described as a failed embryonic process and includes besides advanced organoid development also large elements of tissue with a prolonged occurrence of immature neural components. Such immature components, although benign, exhibit strong morphological resemblance with
tumors of embryonic neuroectodermal origin. Here, we demonstrate that biopsy material from childhood
tumors of neural embryonic origin transplanted to mature experimental
teratoma can show an exclusive preference for matching tissue.
Tumor specimens from five children with; Supratentorial
primitive neuroectodermal tumor (sPNET);
Pilocytic astrocytoma of the brainstem; Classic
medulloblastoma;
peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor (pPNET) or
neuroblastoma (NB), respectively, were transplanted. Analysis of up to 120 sections of each
tumor revealed an engraftment for three of the transplanted
tumors: pPNET, sPNET, and NB, with a protruding growth from the latter two that were selected for detailed examination. The histology revealed a strict tropism with a non-random integration into what morphologically appeared as matched embryonic microenvironment recuperating the patient
tumor histology. The findings suggest specific advantages over
xenotransplantation and lead us to propose that
transplantation to the human embryonic microenvironment in experimental
teratoma can be a well-needed
complement for preclinical in vivo studies of childhood
neuroectodermal tumors.