PMID: 9166547Oct 1, 1996Paper

Growth and metastasis of surgical specimens of human breast carcinomas in SCID mice

The Cancer Journal From Scientific American
T SakakibaraE A Repasky

Abstract

We have studied the growth and metastatic potential of surgical specimens of breast carcinomas engrafted into the large abdominal (gonadal) fat pad of severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice. We present results of this study, details of the implantation protocol and histologic characterization of several of the tumor xenografts. We evaluated the growth within SCID mice of 48 breast carcinoma specimens derived from 46 patients (45 primary breast cancers or local recurrences and 3 regional metastatic lymph nodes) obtained from resected tissues at this Institute over a 3-year period. The growth of each transplant was assessed by histologic examination of the xenografts at various times after implantation or upon passage into additional mice. We observed that placement of human breast tumors within the gonadal fat pad could result in tumors that grew either rapidly, slowly, or not at all. Of 48 tumors studied, 12 (25%), including one of the three lymph node-derived tumors, grew rapidly enough within some or all of the implanted mice (i.e., the tumors reached a diameter of 2-3 cm within 2-6 months) to allow repeated passage. Metastatic spread to the SCID mouse lung, liver, and/or diaphragm and other sites was observed with the x...Continue Reading

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