[Animal Modeling] - Characteristics of Spontaneous Tumor Animal Models

  The conditions for the occurrence of spontaneous tumors in animals are relatively natural, reproducing the entire process of tumor occurrence and development. It is possible to discover previously undiscovered carcinogenic factors through detailed observation and statistical analysis, or to focus on the role of genetic factors in tumor occurrence. On the other hand, many animal tumors have similarities in histogenesis, clinical processes, and histomorphology to human tumors. Compared with other experimental tumor models, using spontaneous tumor models for tumor research is more conducive to extending animal experimental results to humans.

  Another important significance of spontaneous tumors is as a source of transplanted tumors. Lewis lung cancer is a widely used transplant tumor in the world. It was discovered by Lewis in 1951 in an untreated C57BL mouse. The cell type is poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma, and the tumor formation rate and lung metastasis rate of subcutaneous transplantation can approach 100%. In addition to Lewis lung cancer, there are also Ehrlich ascites tumors that spontaneously originate from the mammary glands of female mice (which can be passaged and preserved in different mouse strains, such as C57BL mice, BALB/c mice, KM mice, and AKR mice). Others, such as breast cancer spontaneously produced by C3H mice, leukemia spontaneously produced by AKR mice, and liver cancer spontaneously produced by C3H/He mice, have been used to establish transplanted tumor models.

  At present, various animal models of spontaneous tumors have been cultivated, and it is ideal to conduct experiments on tumor pathogenesis and mechanisms. However, the spontaneous tumor model also has its inevitable drawbacks. Generally, the occurrence of tumors is uneven, making it difficult to obtain a large number of oncological materials with similar disease courses in a short period of time. The tumor growth rate is slow, the experimental period is relatively long, and the experimental cost is high. Therefore, animal models of spontaneous tumors are rarely used for pharmacodynamic research.

  Spontaneous tumors are tumors that occur under natural conditions. The more contact you have with an animal, the more careful you observe, and the more opportunities you have to discover the spontaneous tumors of that animal, the more comprehensive your understanding becomes. Since more mice and rats are used in medical research, there is more understanding of the types and incidence rate of spontaneous tumors in mice and rats. However, with the development of science, researchers have also accumulated a large number of data related to spontaneous tumors in other animals.