Assessing the Efficacy of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Preclinical Tumor Models

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Immunology
• Preclinical Cancer Research

Background:

• Identifying novel immune targets is crucial for cancer immunotherapy.
• Syngeneic tumor models are essential for preclinical immunotherapy development.
• Evaluating immunotherapy efficacy requires robust preclinical models.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide practical procedures for generating subcutaneous tumors and lung metastases.
• To describe methods for quantifying lung metastasis burden using imaging.
• To present a protocol for studying spontaneous metastases and neoadjuvant immunotherapy.

Main Methods:

• Generation of subcutaneous tumors and experimental lung metastases in syngeneic models.
• Quantification of contrasted lung metastasis burden via imaging techniques.
• Orthotopic injection of breast tumor cells followed by tumor resection for metastasis study.

Main Results:

• Established protocols for creating reliable preclinical cancer models.
• Demonstrated a method for quantitative assessment of lung metastasis.
• Provided a framework for evaluating neoadjuvant immunotherapy strategies.

Conclusions:

• The presented methods facilitate the preclinical evaluation of immunotherapies.
• Accurate quantification of metastasis burden aids in assessing treatment effectiveness.
• These protocols support the advancement of cancer immunotherapy research.