Comparative study of three methods of establishing pancreatic carcinoma model in nude mice

Objective: To establish models of subcutaneous tumor, intra-abdominal metastasis tumor and in situ xenograft in nude mice with human pancreatic cancer cell line BXPC-3 to discuss the modeling methods and the biological characteristics of human pancreatic cancer model in nude mice. Methods: Subcutaneous pancreatic tumor model was established by direct subcutaneous injection of human tumor cells in nude mice. Intra-abdominal metastasis tumor model was established by embedding tumor blocks in nude mice after laparotomy. Tumor orthotopic transplantation model was established by injecting tumor cell suspension into pancreatic capsules in nude mice. We observed all the three models for the positive rate of tumor inoculation and growth rate of tumor size, and then made pathological examination of the tumor. Results: The positive rate of construction of the three models is as follows: 47% (7/15) for subcutaneous model, 100% (14/14) for tumor blocks embedded peritoneal metastatic tumor model, and 100% (14/14) for orthotopic model. The latter two models presented liver metastasis, peritoneal metastasis and mesenteric metastasis one month later. The rates of tumor formation in the three groups had significant differences (P<0.01). Pathological results accorded with poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma of the pancreas. Conclusion: We have successfully established the models of subcutaneous tumor, intra-abdominal metastasis tumor and in situ xenograft in nude mice with human pancreatic cancer cell line BXPC-3. Different models show their unique advantages, which provides an experimental platform for basic research of the biological behavior of human pancreatic cancer and its treatment.