title: Mammary glands reconstituted with Neu/ErbB2 transformed HC11 cells provide a novel orthotopic tumor model for testing anti-cancer agents.
abstract: The ErbB2 receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) has been intensely pursued as a cancer therapy target due to its association with breast cancer. In this study we used the HC11 mammary epithelial cell line to develop an orthotopic, ErbB2-driven tumor model for testing efficacy of anti-cancer compounds. HC11 cells were infected with a retrovirus encoding oncogenic NeuT, the rat homolog of ErbB2. Drug-selected populations were introduced into mammary fat pads of Balb/c syngeneic mice cleared of host tissue. The majority of glands injected with HC11-NeuT cells developed mammary tumors which appeared after a 3-4 week latency period and grew rapidly. HC11 cells infected with the control retrovirus showed no tumor growth after injection. Tumor-bearing mice were used to compare the in vivo efficacy of two anti-cancer agents: PKI166, a kinase inhibitor selective for EGF receptor and ErbB2, and Taxol, a microtubule assembly blocker. PKI166 inhibited NeuT-induced mammary tumor growth in a dose-dependent manner and at a dose below the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) was significantly more inhibitory than Taxol at its MTD (57% vs. 25% tumor regression). Importantly, there was a dose-dependent decrease in the phosphotyrosine content of NeuT isolated from PKI166-treated, tumor-bearing mice, providing a mechanistic link between kinase inhibition and its anti-tumor activity. Thus, implantation of genetically manipulated HC11 cells into mammary glands appears to be an excellent model for studying effects of anti-cancer agents in an orthotopic site.
authors.affiliation: Novartis Pharma AG, Oncology/Dept. of in vivo Pharmacology, WLK 125.142, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brandt
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: N E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Hynes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D002455:Cell Division; D002461:Cell Line, Transformed; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor / Q000379:methods*; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D005260:Female; D018734:Genes, erbB-2; D008321:Mammary Glands, Animal / Q000473:pathology; D008325:Mammary Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation; D017239:Paclitaxel / Q000494:pharmacology; D011743:Pyrimidines / Q000494:pharmacology; D011758:Pyrroles / Q000494:pharmacology; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D066246:ErbB Receptors; D017239:Paclitaxel; D011743:Pyrimidines; D011758:Pyrroles; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; C410026:PKI 166