Recent advances in high-throughput sequencing techniques have significantly accelerated the development of personalized diagnostic tools and cancer treatments. However, a comparative analysis of experimental animals that share similar genetic, physiological, and behavioral traits with humans remains the basis for understanding the pathological mechanisms associated with human diseases, including cancer. The generation and characterization of suitable animal models mimicking tumor growth and progression thus represents an important "component" of tumor biology research. The presented Special Issue contains ten review articles, which, based on data obtained from various animal models, summarize a number of aspects of the tumor formation process that include gastrointestinal neoplasia, breast cancer, hematological malignancies, melanoma, and brain tumors. This Special Issue nicely illustrates how the study of suitable living models uncovers not only the fundamental molecular and cellular bases of neoplastic growth, but might also indicate approaches to efficient cancer treatments.
Keywords: cancer; gene editing; hematologic malignancies; mouse models; non-mouse models; solid tumors; stem cells.