title: High-malignancy orthotopic nude mouse model of human prostate cancer LNCaP.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  An animal model of human prostate cancer LNCaP demonstrating high rates of spontaneous metastasis from the orthotopic site after tumor implantation would be very valuable for mechanistic and drug discovery studies. We previously developed microsurgical techniques to implant histologically intact tumor tissues orthotopically in nude mice in order to develop high metastatic mouse models of human cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Intact tissue of the androgen-dependent human prostate cancer cell line, LNCaP, was implanted on the ventral lateral lobes of the prostate gland by surgical orthotopic implantation (SOI) in a series of 20 nude mice. Mice were autopsied, and histopathological examination of primary tumors and relevant organs was done to identify and quantitate micrometastasis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eighteen of 20 animals transplanted with LNCaP by SOI had tumor growth. Mean primary tumor weight in the prostate was 9.24 g at time of necropsy. Sixty-one percent of the transplanted animals had lymph node metastasis. Forty-four percent had lung metastasis. Mean survival time was 72 days, indicating a high degree of malignancy of the tumor.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The extensive and widespread lung metastasis as well as lymph node metastasis following orthotopic implantation of LNCaP in nude mice and the short survival time provide a high-malignancy nude model of the LNCaP human prostate tumor.
authors.affiliation: AntiCancer, Inc., San Diego, California 92111, USA.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: An
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Geller
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Hoffman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D016019:Survival Analysis