Table 1. Experimental mice for the development of an orthotopic model of bone malignancies.
| Transplanted cell line | Numberof mice | Age at transplantation,weeks: median, (range) | Time to reach protocol limits, days: median, (range) | Tumour formation,% | Dominant histological feature |
| VH-64 | 7 | 12 (11–12) | 38 (31–55) | 100% (7/7) | Extensive spicules of reactive new bone |
| TC-71 | 6 | 12 (11–12) | 31 (15–42) | 100% (6/6) | Reactive new bone and cortical destruction |
| TC-71 in Rag2−/− γc−/− mice | 13 | 13 (12–17) | 43.5 (4–62) | 92% (12/13) | As for TC-71 |
| SaOS-2 | 5 | 12 (10–12) | 70 (52–85) | 100% (5/5) | Malignant new bone formation |
| PC3M | 7 | 12 (12–13) | 29 (29–55) | 100% (7/7) | Osteoclastic cortical lysis and reactive new bone |
| Medium | 5 | 11 (11–12) | N.A. (sacrificed>day 85) | 0% (0/5) | Normal findings |
VH-64 and TC-71: Ewing sarcoma cell lines; SaOS-2: osteosarcoma cell line; PC3M: prostatic adenocarcinoma cell line; Medium: mice were injected with medium alone. N.A.: not applicable. All mice were NSG mice unless stated otherwise.