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Role of Murine Tumor Models in Cancer Treatment Research¹

Catholic Medical Center, Woodhaven, New York 11421 [D. S. M., R. C. S., R. L. S.]; Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York 10021 [D. S. M. M. E. B., F. A. S., C. W. Y.]; University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261 [B. F.]; Sidney Farber Cancer Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02115 [E. F.]; M. D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute, Houston, Texas 77030 [E. J F.]; Michigan Cancer Foundation, Detroit, Michigan 48201 [G. H. H.]; Mt. Sinai Medical School, New York, New York 10029 [J. F. H.]; St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee 38101 [J. A. H., P. J. H.]; Smith, Kline and French Laboratories, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19101 [R. K. J.]; and Roswell Park Memorial Institute, Buffalo, New York 14263 [A. M., Y. R.]

Two major factors have contributed to a widely held disenchantment with murine tumor models for drug screening in cancer research: (a) the higher costs of these models in comparison to studies performed with tumor cells in vitro; and (b) the perception that these models have failed to demonstrate satisfactory correlation of chemosensitivity with analogous human tumor types; i.e., murine tumors generally have proved to be sensitive to many more agents than are found to be active in the clinic. The perceived failure of the murine models is discussed with particular reference to the difference in criteria used for evaluating drug sensitivity in murine tumor models versus clinical trials, and we conclude that the perception about murine models is not tenable in light of present information. The very important role of murine tumor models in optimizing dosage and administration schedules and, most importantly, in the development of a new drug to its most useful potential in combination chemotherapy is discussed. The value of this in vivo methodology is stressed.

¹ Presented at the "Workshop on Disease-oriented Antitumor Drug Discovery and Development," National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, January 9-10, 1985.

Received 3/ 4/85. Revised 4/27/85. Accepted 1/16/86.