|
Chemically-induced tumours
|
Dimethyl hydrazine – gastric cancer (Watanabe et al, 1999)
Azoxymethane – colon cancer (Hirose et al, 2004)
Diethylnitrosamine – heptaocellular carcinoma (Ha et al, 2001)
Dimethyl benzanthracene – breast cancer (Hawariah and Stanslas, 1998)
N-acetylcysteine – squamous oesophageal carcinoma (Balansky et al, 2002)
Dimethylbenzanthracene/ tetradecanoyl phorbol acetate (TPA) – skin cancer (Johansen et al, 2009) |
Model the full spectrum of carcinogenic events
Useful in chemoprevention studies |
Low incidence and heterogeneous tumour development
Safety aspects associated with use of carcinogens – may need to house animals in isolator
Long time frame for tumour development
Continuous monitoring not feasible
Often highly immunogenic |
|
Radiation-induced tumours
|
Ultraviolet light (Ahsan et al, 2005; De Fabo, 2006; El-Abaseri and Hansen, 2007) |
Models non-melanoma (using UVA) and melanoma (UVB) skin cancer
Useful for prevention (e.g.. sunscreen) studies |
Requires hairless mice |
|
Inflammation-induced tumours
|
Helicobacter pylori-induced gastric cancer in gerbils (Zheng et al, 2004) |
Use of conventional rodents to facilitate the involvement of the full spectrum of immune mediators
Models malignant progression and amenable for use of chemopreventive agents |
Limited availability of models
Long time frame and variability in tumour development |
|
Surgically-induced tumours
|
Oesophago-gastroduodenal anastomosis model of oesophageal carcinogenesis (Chen et al, 1999) |
Can model malignant progression or metastatic spread |
High level of skill required for initiation
Incidence may not be 100%
Accurate quantification can be difficult unless using real-time imaging |
|
Spontaneous tumours, sometimes with viral/genetic component
|
T138 mice and mammary carcinoma (Wood et al, 1992; Nordsmark et al, 1996)
Cotton rats and neuroendocrine gastrointestinal tumours (Martinsen et al, 2003)
Eker rat model of tuberous sclerosis (Kenerson et al, 2005) |
Develop cancer without any intervention
Conventional rodents, therefore fully immunocompetent |
Limited tumour types and strains
Variability in the time frame of tumour development |
