Head and neck cancer is the seventh common cancer in the world, and various existing treatment strategies provide modest benefit for most patients with head and neck cancer. Meanwhile, therapeutic strategies lacking molecular typing significantly hinder the development of individualized treatment for head and neck cancer. In recent years, connected by preclinical models, the novel ideal has gradually reached a consensus in terms of facilitating inter-transformation of clinical problems and basic achievements. As a bridge between basic research and clinical transformation, patient-derived xenografts (PDX) models precisely replicate genetic characteristics and tumor evolution, which are displaying great vitality in elucidating the mechanism of tumorigenesis and progression. Moreover, cohorts composed of several PDX models highlight the unique advantages of mice for drug screening and biomarker analysis for patients. This ideal preclinical model explores potential treatment strategies suited the ethical standards as much as possible for patients.
Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Head and Neck Neoplasms ; Heterografts ; Humans ; Mice ; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the predictability of pretreatment values including Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging (DCE-MRI) derived parameters (Ktrans, Kep and Ve), early changes in parameters (Ktrans, tumor volume), and heterogeneity (standard deviation of Ktrans) for radiation therapy responses via a human colorectal cancer xenograft model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A human colorectal cancer xenograft model with DLD-1 cancer cells was produced in the right hind limbs of five mice. Tumors were irradiated with 3 fractions of 3 Gy each for 3 weeks. Baseline and follow up DCE-MRI were performed. Quantitative parameters (Ktrans, Kep and Ve) were calculated based on the Tofts model. Early changes in Ktrans, standard deviation (SD) of Ktrans, and tumor volume were also calculated. Tumor responses were evaluated based on histology. With a cut-off value of 0.4 for necrotic factor, a comparison between good and poor responses was conducted. RESULTS: The good response group (mice #1 and 2) exhibited higher pretreatment Ktrans than the poor response group (mice #3, 4, and 5). The good response group tended to show lower pretreatment Kep, higher pretreatment Ve, and larger baseline tumor volume than the poor response group. All the mice in the good response group demonstrated marked reductions in Ktrans and SD value after the first radiation. All tumors showed increased volume after the first radiation therapy. CONCLUSION: The good response after radiation therapy group in the DLD-1 colon cancer xenograft nude mouse model exhibited a higher pretreatment Ktrans and showed an early reduction in Ktrans, demonstrating a more homogenous distribution.
Animals ; Colonic Neoplasms/*pathology/*radiotherapy ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging/*methods ; Mice ; Mice, Nude ; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

OBJECTIVE: To investigate inhibitory activities of a homogenous anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-antibody drug conjugate (ADC) on the proliferation of nine tumor cell lines with different levels of HER2 expressions, and its activities on the tumor growth of five xenograft mouse models. METHODS: The HER2 expression levels of BT-474, Calu-3, MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-468, SK-BR-3, SK-OV-3, HCC1954, NCI-N87 tumor cell lines were measured using QIFI KIT. For the in vitro anti-proliferation assay, serial diluted anti-HER2-ADC, ado-trastuzumab emtansine, AS269, pAF-AS269 and paclitaxel were added to the seeded cells, and after 72 or 96 hours of incubation, the cell proliferation was analyzed. For the in vivo activity, 5-6 weeks old mice were inoculated with four HER2 positive tumor cell lines HCC1954, BT-474, SK-OV-3, NCI-N87 or one HER2 negative tumor cell line MDA-MB-468. Different amounts of anti-HER2-ADC, ado-trastuzumab emtansine, trastuzumab, paclitaxel and phosphate buffered saline control were injected after the tumor volume reached a certain size, then the tumor growth inhibition was analyzed. RESULTS: The expression levels of the six high HER2-expression cell lines SK-OV-3, NCI-N87, SK-BR-3, Calu-3, HCC1954, BT-474 were between 430 000 to 800 000 receptors per cell, which were 50 times higher than those of the other three low HER2 expression tumor cell lines MDA-MB-231, MCF-7, MDA-MB-468. Anti-HER2-ADC had inhibition effects on cell lines with high level of HER2 expression in the in vitro anti-proliferation assay. The half maximal inhibitory concentrations of anti-HER2-ADC on SK-OV-3, NCI-N87, SK-BR-3, Calu-3, HCC1954, BT-474 tumor cell lines were 46 pmol/L, 17 pmol/L, 17 pmol/L, 161 pmol/L, 125 pmol/L, 50 pmol/L, respectively. Anti-HER2-ADC had a dose dependent antitumor activity in vivo in all the HER2 positive xenograft mouse models. In NCI-N87 xenograft tumor model, the same dose of anti-HER2-ADC showed better anti-tumor activity compared with trastuzumab and ado-trastuzumab emtansine, and its relative tumor proliferation rates were about 1/30 to 1/20 of the two. In HCC1954 xenograft tumor model, the complete regression of the tumor was observed. As expected, anti-HER2-ADC had no tumor inhibitory effects on MDA-MB-468 xenograft models with low HER2 expression. The antitumor activities of anti-HER2-ADC in HER2 positive xenograft tumor models were the same as or better than the activities of ado-trastuzumab emtansine. CONCLUSION The homogenous site-specific anti-HER2-ADC obtained using unnatural amino acid technology can inhibit the growth of high HER2-expression tumor cells with high potency both in vivo and in vitro.
Amino Acids ; Animals ; Breast Neoplasms ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Humans ; Immunoconjugates ; Mice ; Receptor, ErbB-2 ; Trastuzumab ; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

OBJECTIVETo assess the safety of hyperbaric oxygen in the treatment of radiation-induced hemorrhagic cystitis in patients with prostate cancer, and to investigate its effect on the growth of indolent prostate cancer in vivo.

METHODSThirty severe combined-immunodeficient mice received subcutaneous injection of human prostate cancer LNCaP cells. Then they were randomized to an experimental and a control group and exposed to 20 sessions of hyperbaric oxygen and normobaric air, respectively, followed by a 4-week observation on the growth of the transplanted tumors and analyses of their histopathological features at 28 days, including the volume, microvessel density (CD34), apoptosis markers (p53 and p27 proteins) and the proliferation index (Ki-67) of the LNCaP tumors.

RESULTSOn the 28th day after tumor vaccination, the tumor volume was (120 +/- 7.9) mm3 in the HBO and (122 +/- 8.2) mm3 in the control group; the microvessel density and the expressions of Ki-67, p53 and p27 were 39.3 +/- 5.2, (78.1 +/- 7.6)%, (40.4 +/- 6.2)% and (63.7 +/- 5.1)% in the former, and 36.2 +/- 4.9, (75.3 +/- 8.4)%, (44.2 +/- 5.7)% and (61.5 +/- 5.5)% in the latter. There were no significant differences in all the indexes above between the two groups (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONHyperbaric oxygen did not promote the growth of indolent prostate cancer in the murine model, nor did it have any significant effect on the new vessels.

Animals ; Cell Cycle ; Doxorubicin ; pharmacology ; Drug Resistance, Multiple ; Humans ; Hyperbaric Oxygenation ; K562 Cells ; Mice ; Mice, Nude ; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

PURPOSE: Hormone-refractory prostate cancer(HRPC) is the terminal step in the natural history of prostate cancer, for which no chemotherapeutic agents have been shown to impact on the clinical outcomes. However, taxane-based therapies have recently appeared to have a significant efficacy on HRPC. The therapeutic effect of paclitaxel was evaluated against metastatic human prostate cancer PC-3 xenografted into athymic nude mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 24 male nude mice subcutaneously transplanted with the PC3 cell line were divided in 2 groups. An experimental group was given paclitaxel intraperitoneally at a dose of 12.5mg/kg per injection per day for 4 consecutive days, from the 6th and 20th day following tumor injection. All mice were observed for 31 days, and sacrificed by CO2 gas asphyxiation at the end of the experiment. The mean tumor volume and body weight of both groups were compared using student's t-tests. A tumor volume of more than 200mm3 was regarded as dead. The survival rate was indirectly analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: The mean tumor volume of the paclitaxel treatment group was significantly reduced from the 20th day after tumor injection until the end of the experiment compared with the control group. The mean body weight of both groups was different significantly from the 17th day after tumor injection until the end of the experiment, but after removal of the tumor mass, at the 31st day after tumor injection, no significant difference was observed between the two groups. The survival rate of the paclitaxel treatment group was significantly higher than that of the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Our data has shown that paclitaxel is effective in suppressing the growth rate of a HRPC cell line in vivo and improved the survival rate. It is believe that further clinical assessment of the optimal dose and schedule of this drug are warranted.
Animals ; Appointments and Schedules ; Body Weight ; Cell Line* ; Heterografts* ; Humans ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Nude* ; Natural History ; Paclitaxel* ; Prostate ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; Survival Rate ; Tumor Burden ; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the in vitro and in vivo anticancer efficacy of the immunotoxin DTAT and DTATEGF against globlastoma multiforme. METHODS: The in vitro cytotoxicity of DTAT and DTATEGF was measured using MTT assay. In vivo studies were performed in which 18 nude mice were randomly divided into 3 groups and the glioma xenograft intracranial mouse model was constructed with U87-luc cell line of human glioma. Then 1 μg of DTAT, or DTATEGF, or a control protein Bickel3 was delivered intracranially by convection-enhanced delivery (CED) via an osmotic minipump. The brain tumor fluorescence signal intensity was investigated by bioluminescent imaging (BLI). Microvessel density (MVD) was measured by immunchistochemistry SABC method in each group. RESULTS: In vitro DTAT and DTATEGF were found highly potent against U87-luc cell line, with IC(50) <0.01 nmol/L and IC(50)<1 nmol/L, respectively. In vivo BLI monitoring of the control group showed progressively increasing luminescence, while in the two treatment groups, luminescence was reduced on day 8, and increased slowly (P<0.05). The MVD of DTAT (31.6±5.2)/mm(2) and DTATEGF (25.1±6.5)/mm(2) groups had significant difference with that of the control group (51.3±7.4) /mm(2) (P<0.01). CONCLUSION Both DTAT and DTATEGF have potential in clinical application against globlastoma multiforme because of their ability to target the tumor cells and neovasculature simultaneously.
Angiogenesis Inhibitors ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Brain Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Glioblastoma ; drug therapy ; Glioma ; Humans ; Immunotoxins ; pharmacology ; Mice ; Mice, Nude ; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the difference of tumor formation in different mouse strains bearing patient-derived xenograft of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma(ESCC) and establish a better animal model for preclinical study of individualized treatment of ESCC. METHODS: The tumor tissues collected from 22 ESCC patients were used to establish tumor-bearing mouse models in B-NDG (NSG) mice and BALB/c nude mice. The tumor formation rate and tumor formation time were compared between the two mouse models, and HE staining, immunohistochemistry and genome sequencing were carried out to assess the consistency between transplanted tumor tissues in the models and patient-derived tumor tissues. RESULTS: The tumor-bearing models were established successfully in both NSG mice (50%, 11/22) and BALB/c nude mice (18.18%, 4/22). The average tumor formation time was significantly shorter in NSG mice than in BALB/c nude mice (75.95 91.67 days, < 0.001). In both of the mouse models, the transplanted tumors maintained morphological characteristics identical to those of patient-derived ESCC tumors. Genetic analysis showed that the xenografts in NSG mice had a greater genetic similarity to the patients' tumors than those in BALB/c nude mice ( < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS Mouse models bearing xenografts of patient-derived ESCC can be successfully established in both NSG mice and BALB/c nude mice, but the models in the former mouse strain can be more reliable.
Animals ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma ; Heterografts ; Humans ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Nude ; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

This paper discussed the synergistic anti-tumor effect of Shuangdan Capsules combined with 5-fluorouracil(5-FU) on human liver cancer cell line Huh-7 and tumor bearing mice. The effects of Shuangdan Capsules combined with 5-FU on the activity and vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) receptor protein expression of Huh-7 cells were investigated, and the effects of drug combination on tube formation of HUVEC cell were also verified. In addition, the mice model of Huh-7 was established to observe the anti-tumor effect of drug combination and the distribution of tumor blood flow in tumor bearing mice by using molecular imaging. HPLC analysis showed that Shuangdan Capsules mainly consisted of danshensusodium, protocatechuic aldehyde, paeoniflorin, rosmarinic acid, alkannic acid, salvianolic acid B, and paeonol. In MTT experiment, the inhibition rate of Shuangdan Capsules(20 mg·L~(-1)) and 5-FU(1 μmol·L~(-1)) on Huh-7 cells was 60%, and the CI value was 0.59, suggesting that these two drugs had synergistic anti-hepatoma cells effect. The expression of VEGF receptor in Huh-7 cells was inhibited by the combination of these two drugs. In addition, the process of HUVEC was slow, and the number, length and area of the lumen branches decreased significantly. In vivo, Shuangdan Capsules combined with 5-FU inhibited the growth and prolongation of survival of Huh-7 cells in subcutaneous transplanted tumor nude mice; serum expression of CD31 and VEGF in nude mice were decreased, while caspase-3 was increased. Meanwhile, the drug combination significantly inhibited the expressions of MMP2 and VEGF in tumor tissues. Ultrasound showed that Shuangdan Capsules combined with 5-FU also inhibited tumor angiogenesis and reduced blood flow of tumor tissue. The results showed that Shuangdan Capsules combined with 5-FU may inhibit tumor angiogenesis by inhibiting VEGF and MMP2 expressions, thereby blocking tumor growth.
Animals ; Capsules ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Fluorouracil ; Heterografts ; Liver Neoplasms ; Mice ; Mice, Nude ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

OBJECTIVE: To summarize and critically assess the inhibitory effects of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) on tumor volume and tumor weight for the treatment of osteosarcoma (OS) in mouse models. METHODS: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database (CNKI), Wanfang Database, VIP Database, and Chinese BioMedical (CBM) were searched since their inception dates to March 10, 2016. Two reviewers independently selected the controlled studies estimating effects of CHM on mouse OS by administration in vivo. A pair-wise meta-analysis was performed. Twenty-five studies with adequate randomization were included in the systematic review. RESULTS: CHM may significantly inhibit OS growth in mice, as assessed using the tumor weight [20 studies, n=443; 290 for CHM and 153 for the control: pooled mean difference (MD)=-2.90; 95% confidence interval (Cl): -3.50 to -2.31: P<0.01], tumor volume (16 studies, n=382; 257 for CHM and 125 for the control; pooled MD =-2.57; 95% Cl: -3.33 to -1.80; P<0.01) and tumor growth inhibition rate. CONCLUSION CHM could significantly inhibit the growth of OS in mouse models, which might be supportive for the design of preclinical and clinical trials in future.
Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Mice ; Osteosarcoma ; drug therapy ; Publication Bias ; Risk Factors ; Tumor Burden ; drug effects ; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays