Recipient sex and donor leukemic cell characteristics determine leukemogenesis in patient-derived models.

In acute myeloid leukemia (AML), leukemogenesis depends on cell-intrinsic genetic aberrations and thus, studies on AML require investigations in an in vivo setting as provided by patient derived xenografts (PDX) models. Here we report that, next to leukemic cell characteristics, recipient sex highly influences the outgrowth of AML cells in PDX models, with females being much better repopulated than males in primary as well as secondary transplantation assays. Testosterone may be the more important player since, strikingly, better engraftment was seen in castrated versus control male recipients, while ovariectomy did not significantly impair engraftment in females.