[A simple method of testing the sensitivity to antineoplastic agents on human tumors in vivo]

BRO human melanoma cells, encapsulated in fibrinogen clots and implanted under the subrenal capsule of immunosuppressed mice, serve as a model for evaluating the effects of chemotherapeutic agents on human tumors in vivo. Histological examination of 8-day tumors in mice which had received 4.5 Gy prior to implantation, showed that the cells were largely viable. Radiation at this dose exerted no significant additional toxicity for mice given therapeutic doses of anticancer drugs. Effects of anticancer agents on tumor growth correlated well with other methods for evaluating the effects of chemotherapy on BRO cells in vivo.