Xenograft model systems for human melanoma

Human melanoma cells inoculated intradermally into congenitally immune-deficient mice initiate angiogenesis and give rise to tumors with a human parenchyma and a murine stroma. These tumors are similar to the donor patients' tumors with respect to histological appearance, karyotype and molecular pathology. The cellular treatment sensitivities and the organ-specific metastatic patterns of the donor patients' tumors are also retained after xenotransplantation. Consequently, human melanoma xenografts are exciting experimental models that show great promise for future studies of the molecular biology, angiogenesis, pathophysiology, treatment sensitivity and metastatic behavior of malignant melanoma.