Establishment of the hu-PBL-SCID mouse model for the investigation of thyroid cancer
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Updated: Aug 1, 2026
Spontaneous Murine Model of Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer
Published on: February 3, 2023
1Department of Surgery, Medical and Health Science Center, University of Debrecen, 4012 Debrecen, Hungary.
Abstract:
New experimental models of human neoplastic diseases attempt to mimic the human environment that fostered the development of disease in cancer patients. The aim of the present study was to establish a human lymphocyte-engrafted, severe combined immunodeficient (hu-PBL-SCID) mouse model to investigate thyroid cancer and to evaluate the potential use of this model for cancer immunotherapy. Thyroid neoplastic tissues were obtained from ten patients (one follicular adenoma, five papillary, one follicular, one anaplastic and two medullary cancers). One 8 x 4 x 3 millimeter sample from each tumor was cut into two pieces of identical size and transplanted into two SCID mice. In each case, one of the two mice was injected intraperitoneally with lymphocytes from the same tumor patient for the reconstitution of the human immune system (Group A), while the other animal received no lymphocytes (Group B). The engraftment of the tumors was successful in all cases. The growth rate was highly dependent on the histological type. When histologies were compared before implantation and after the removal of the implants, the characters of the tumors proved to be unchanged, except one case where an anaplastic cancer arose from a papillary tumor. Macrophages were present in all but one papillary cancer. All differentiated thyroid cancers were infiltrated by T and B lymphocytes. Lymphocytes and macrophages disappeared from 19/20 grafts by week 16. However, in one case from group A lymphocytes were detected four months after the transplantation. In another case from group A, one papillary cancer spontaneously decreased in size and disappeared. Before implantation, HLA-DR expression was detected in every papillary cancer. HLA-DR expression in the grafts was not seen in 3/5 cases by week 16. In conclusion, an animal model has been established for the investigation of human thyroid cancer, by which the analysis of anti-tumor immunity, as a postulate of immune therapy, may be possible.
