Experimental animal model for the evaluation of chemotherapeutical effects on osteosarcoma

In previous studies radiation-induced osteosarcoma transplanted onto nude rats has been shown to have an extraordinary similarity to human osteosarcoma. In this report the effects of a standard chemotherapeutic regimen on this experimental bone tumor are described. Examination of the histology and of the water content of the tumor confirmed that a high-dose cyclophosphamide monotherapy can cause severe necrosis in the tumor and its seeded lung metastases. A significant decrease in tumor volume of 50% (p < or = 0.01) was provoked and increased the mean survival rate of the treated rats (untreated rats: mean = 39.3 days) significantly to 53.6 days after transplantation of tumor fragments (p < or = 0.01).