A method to generate genetically defined tumors in pigs

Methods Enzymol. 2008:439:39-51. doi: 10.1016/S0076-6879(07)00404-1.

Abstract

As a biomedical model, pigs offer many advantages and hence have been utilized extensively for toxicology, Crohn's disease, diabetes, and organ transplantation, as well as many other research areas. However, the advantages of porcine models, particularly its large size and similarity to humans, were not exploited previously to any large degree for cancer research. One reason for this lack of porcine cancer models was the inability to induce cancer in pigs genetically. This chapter describes a rapid, reproducible, and genetically malleable method to induce large tumors in pigs.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Transformation, Neoplastic
  • Disease Models, Animal*
  • Ear, External / cytology
  • Humans
  • Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Swine / genetics*
  • Transgenes / physiology