[Development of experimental meningeal gliomatosis models using nude mice]

Experimental models of meningeal gliomatosis (MG) have been produced by intracisternal inoculation of human glioma cell lines into nude mice. The tumor growth was steady and fast in MG nude mice if 10(7) cells were implanted. Median survival time (MST) of nude mice inoculated with tumor cells was inversely related to the number of cells inoculated. There was a correlation between in vitro and in vivo (MG models) growth rate, which means that the cell kinetics in vitro are reflected in vivo. The clinicopathological features observed in nude mouse MG models were similar to those seen in diffuse leptomeningeal involvement of gliomas in humans. The models will be useful for investigating the pathophysiology of meningeal gliomatosis and the efficacy of chemotherapeutic agents.