Malignancies with extremely low incidences, such as less than 6 per 100,000 people annually, are defined as rare cancers. Approximately 200 malignancies are classified in this category, therefore the total number of patients with rare cancers is greater than that of patients with any single common cancer. However, because of the small numbers of patients, novel therapies have not been developed for individual rare cancers, and clinical outcomes remain dismal. Patient-derived cancer models are indispensable for both basic and pre-clinical studies, and their roles will increase in the era of post-genome medicine. Although patient-derived cancer models have long been used in oncology, they are not well developed for rare cancers. In the context of sarcoma, the presently available cell lines and xenograft models are limited and do not satisfy the needs of research. Indeed, the lack of effective therapies for rare cancers might be attributable to the paucity of adequate patient-derived cancer models for pre-clinical studies. To facilitate the establishment and availability of patient-derived rare cancer models, we need to create effective methods for model establishment, share the valuable clinical samples and established models, and implement guidelines to record the clinical data of donor patients and original tumors. Patient-derived rare cancer models are a public resource, and they should not be used exclusively but should rather be shared among the research community.

发病率极低的恶性肿瘤，例如每年每 10 万人中不到 6 例，被定义为罕见癌症。大约 200 种恶性肿瘤被归为这一类，因此罕见癌症患者的总数比任何单一常见癌症患者的总数都多。然而，由于患者数量少，尚未开发出针对个别罕见癌症的新疗法，临床结果仍然令人沮丧。患者衍生的癌症模型对于基础研究和临床前研究都是必不可少的，并且它们的作用将在后基因组医学时代增加。尽管源自患者的癌症模型长期以来一直用于肿瘤学，但它们对于罕见癌症的开发并不完善。在肉瘤的背景下，目前可用的细胞系和异种移植模型有限，不能满足研究需要。事实上，罕见癌症缺乏有效疗法可能是由于缺乏足够的患者衍生癌症模型用于临床前研究。为促进患者来源的罕见癌症模型的建立和可用性，我们需要创造有效的模型建立方法，共享有价值的临床样本和已建立的模型，并实施指南以记录供体患者和原始肿瘤的临床数据。源自患者的罕见癌症模型是一种公共资源，不应专门使用，而应在研究界共享。罕见癌症缺乏有效的治疗方法可能是由于缺乏足够的患者衍生癌症模型进行临床前研究。为促进患者来源的罕见癌症模型的建立和可用性，我们需要创造有效的模型建立方法，共享有价值的临床样本和已建立的模型，并实施指南以记录供体患者和原始肿瘤的临床数据。源自患者的罕见癌症模型是一种公共资源，不应专门使用，而应在研究界共享。罕见癌症缺乏有效的治疗方法可能是由于缺乏足够的患者衍生癌症模型进行临床前研究。为促进患者来源的罕见癌症模型的建立和可用性，我们需要创造有效的模型建立方法，共享有价值的临床样本和已建立的模型，并实施指南以记录供体患者和原始肿瘤的临床数据。源自患者的罕见癌症模型是一种公共资源，不应专门使用，而应在研究界共享。共享有价值的临床样本和已建立的模型，并实施指南，记录供体患者和原始肿瘤的临床数据。源自患者的罕见癌症模型是一种公共资源，不应专门使用，而应在研究界共享。共享有价值的临床样本和已建立的模型，并实施指南，记录供体患者和原始肿瘤的临床数据。源自患者的罕见癌症模型是一种公共资源，不应专门使用，而应在研究界共享。