Clinically Relevant Transplantable Tumor Models for Studying Metastatic Ovarian Cancer and Therapeutic Response in Mouse.

Metastatic ovarian cancer is an extremely lethal gynecologic malignancy that lacks effective treatment options. Development of clinically translatable therapeutic approaches for ovarian cancer patients is contingent on understanding factors that drive ovarian cancer metastasis. While most solid tumors exhibit hematogenous metastasis, ovarian cancer cells spread primarily through the intraperitoneal route. This process involves detachment and shedding of cancer cells from the primary tumor into the peritoneal cavity, which then acquire properties that enable them to resist anoikis and form multicellular aggregates. These cell aggregates then attach to and invade the mesothelial lining of the peritoneum, forming metastatic lesions. Clinically relevant in vivo models are essential for understanding how cellular factors and the tumor microenvironment impact the different steps in the metastatic process and for testing novel therapeutic strategies. Two transplantable mouse tumor models widely used to study ovarian cancer metastasis and therapeutic response are the intraperitoneal and intrabursal models. In this report, we describe the step-by-step methodology for establishing these models and highlight their advantages and limitations. Additionally, we describe how to use bioluminescent imaging to non-invasively monitor tumor progression using these models.