Pigs: Large Animal Preclinical Cancer Models

Kirtan Joshi; Tejas Katam; Akshata Hegde; Jianlin Cheng; Randall S Prather; Kristin Whitworth; Kevin Wells; Jeffrey N Bryan; Timothy Hoffman; Bhanu P Telugu; Jussuf T Kaifi; Satyanarayana Rachagani

doi:10.14740/wjon1763

Pigs: Large Animal Preclinical Cancer Models

World J Oncol. 2024 Apr;15(2):149-168. doi: 10.14740/wjon1763. Epub 2024 Mar 21.

Authors

Kirtan Joshi^{1

2

3}, Tejas Katam³, Akshata Hegde^{3

4}, Jianlin Cheng^{3

4}, Randall S Prather⁵, Kristin Whitworth⁵, Kevin Wells⁵, Jeffrey N Bryan^{6

7}, Timothy Hoffman¹, Bhanu P Telugu⁵, Jussuf T Kaifi^{2

7

8

9}, Satyanarayana Rachagani^{3

6

7}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Hematology & Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.
² Section for Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.
³ Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health Institute, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.
⁴ Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.
⁵ National Swine Resource and Research Center, Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.
⁶ Department of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.
⁷ Ellis Fischel Cancer Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.
⁸ Institute for Data Science and Informatics, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.
⁹ Siteman Cancer Center, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA.

Abstract

Pigs are playing an increasingly vital role as translational biomedical models for studying human pathophysiology. The annotation of the pig genome was a huge step forward in translatability of pigs as a biomedical model for various human diseases. Similarities between humans and pigs in terms of anatomy, physiology, genetics, and immunology have allowed pigs to become a comprehensive preclinical model for human diseases. With a diverse range, from craniofacial and ophthalmology to reproduction, wound healing, musculoskeletal, and cancer, pigs have provided a seminal understanding of human pathophysiology. This review focuses on the current research using pigs as preclinical models for cancer research and highlights the strengths and opportunities for studying various human cancers.

Keywords: Genetic engineering; Oncopigs; Pigs; Preclinical cancer model; Swine; Translational research.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

SR obtained funding from the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute R01 CA247763. TH, JK, SR: MU Mission Enhancement Funding, School of Medicine, University of Missouri-Columbia. BT, RSP; are supported in part by National Swine Resource and Research Center (NSRRC). Funding for the NSRRC is from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, the National Institute of Heart, Lung and Blood, and the Office of Research Infrastructure Programs, Office of the Director (U42OD011140). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.