Growth of human T-cell lineage acute leukemia in severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice and non-obese diabetic SCID mice.
Primary leukemic cells from patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) can be injected intravenously into mice with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) to create a model of human leukemia. Leukemic cells disseminate to murine tissues in a clinicopathologic pattern similar to that seen in humans. Thus far, reports of engraftment of lymphoid leukemia in SCID mice have mainly been from patients with B-cell lineage ALL, for which engraftment occurs more frequently with cells from high-risk patients. There are few data on the engraftment of T-cell lineage ALL in SCID mice. Leukemic cells from 19 patients (16 adult and three pediatric) with T-cell lineage ALL were injected into SCID mice, with overt engraftment of 12 cases (63%). Engraftment of leukemia in SCID mice was associated with earlier death due to leukemia of the patient donors (P < .01, log-rank test). The recently developed non-obese diabetic (NOD)/SCID mouse may expand the uses of the SCID model. Cells from the seven patients with T-cell lineage ALL that failed to cause leukemia in SCID mice were injected into NOD/SCID mice. Overt leukemia engraftment was observed in all seven cases. Thus, growth of human T-cell lineage ALL cells in SCID mice was associated with a high-risk patient group. However, this association was not observed when NOD/SCID mice were used, suggesting that this model would no longer predict patients likely to die early of leukemia, but may provide a more realistic system for studying the biology and treatment of the disease.
Steele
J P
JP
Academic Department of Haematology and Cytogenetics, The Institute of Cancer Research and Royal Marsden National Health Service Trust, Sutton, Surrey, UK.
Clutterbuck
R D
RD
Powles
R L
RL
Mitchell
P L
PL
Horton
C
C
Morilla
R
R
Catovsky
D
D
Millar
J L
JL
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D019070:Cell Lineage; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007942:Leukemia, Experimental / Q000473:pathology; D015458:Leukemia, T-Cell / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D016688:Mice, Inbred NOD; D016513:Mice, SCID; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology