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Felton et al. J Cancer Metastasis Treat 2018;4:51 Journal of Cancer
DOI: 10.20517/2394-4722.2018.39 Metastasis and Treatment

Original Article Open Access

Two sides to colon cancer: mice mimic human
anatomical region disparity in colon cancer

development and progression

Jessica Felton , Kunrong Cheng , Aaron C. Shang , Shien Hu , Shannon M. Larabee , Cinthia B.
2
2
1
1
2
Drachenberg , Jean-Pierre Raufman 2
3
1 Department of Surgery, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
2 Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
3 Department of Pathology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
Correspondence to: Jean-Pierre Raufman, Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Department of Medicine, University of
Maryland School of Medicine, 22 S. Greene Street, N3W62, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA. Email: jraufman@som.umaryland.edu
How to cite this article: Felton J, Cheng K, Shang AC, Hu S, Larabee SM, Drachenberg CB, Raufman JP. Two sides to colon
cancer: mice mimic human anatomical region disparity in colon cancer development and progression. J Cancer Metastasis Treat
2018;4:51. http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2394-4722.2018.39
Received: 19 Jun 2018 First Decision: 6 Jul 2018 Revised: 14 Jul 2018 Accepted: 9 Aug 2018 Published: 27 Sep 2018

Science Editors: Lucio Miele Copy Editor: Cai-Hong Wang Production Editor: Huan-Liang Wu

Abstract
Aim: Strong evidence reveals important differences between cancers in the proximal vs. distal colon. Animal models
of metastatic colon cancer are available but with varying degrees of reproducibility and several important limitations.
We explored whether there were regional differences in the location of murine colon cancers and assessed the utility of
murine models to explore the biological basis for such differences.

Methods: We re-analyzed data from our previous studies to assess the regional distribution of murine colon cancer.
In survival surgery experiments, we injected HT-29 human colon cancer cells into the wall of the cecum or distal colon
nu
of Nu(NCr)-Foxn1 or NOD.Cg-Prkdc scid Il2rg Tim1Wji /SzJ mice and compared the development of primary tumors and
metastases.

Results: Within 7-17 weeks after intramural cecal injection of HT-29 cells, eight mice failed to develop solid primary
tumors or metastases. In contrast, within four weeks after cell injection into the distal colon, 13 mice developed
metastases - 12 mice developed subcutaneous metastases; of these, four developed liver metastases and one developed
both liver and lung metastases. One mouse developed liver metastases only. Histological examination confirmed these
lesions were adenocarcinomas.

Conclusion: Our findings reveal the preferential growth of murine colon neoplasia and invasive human orthotopic
© The Author(s) 2018. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use,
sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as long
as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license,
and indicate if changes were made.

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