Colon Cancer Model - CT26
Discover how Melior’s unique phenotypic screening platforms can uncover the untapped value of your candidate therapeutic
Colon cancer and rectal cancer (together colorectal cancer; CRC) is one of the most prevalent and deadly tumor types worldwide. CRC represents the third most common cancer type as well as the third most lethal. It affects men and women equally and is prevalent in people of all races. While surgical intervention is first-line therapy for nearly all colon cancers, pharmaceutical adjuvants form an important part of the treatment armamentarium. While immunomodulatory therapies, such as checkpoint inhibition, have been a revolutionary therapeutic breakthrough for many tumor types, the vast majority of colon cancers are relatively refractory to the therapeutic benefits of checkpoint inhibitors. For all of these reasons, there remains a very high unmet medical need for colon cancer pharmaceutical therapeutics including improved immune-modulatory strategies for treating colon cancer. Melior’s colorectal tumor models are an important tool to serve this purpose.
Melior has established a syngeneic mouse tumor model using the CT26 cell line, to complement our xenograft human colon cancer model which uses the HCT-15 cell line. The CT26 mouse model is conducted in Balb/c mice and is equally suitable for investigating cytotoxic therapeutic candidates as well as immune-modulating agents such as checkpoint inhibitors. The CT26 cell line is a colon carcinoma isolated from Balb/c mice that had been treated with N-nitroso-N-methylurethane (NNMU).
Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor and Chemotherapy Validation of a CT26 Syngeneic Mouse Model. The CT26 tumor model is created by subcutaneously injecting 1 x106 CT26 cells into the rear flank of Balb/c mice. Once the tumor size reached ~120mm3 (Day 7), mice were randomized into vehicle control group (treated with normal saline), anti-PD-1 antibody (12.5 mg/kg, IP once per week), or paclitaxel (20 mg/kg, IP once per week). Tumor volume was monitored twice per week using calipers (A). At the end of the study (Day 18), animals were sacrificed, tumors excised and weighed (B, C). N=6 for vehicle and anti-PD-1, N=4 for paclitaxel. Data area mean ± SEM. * P<0.05, ** P<0.01 *** P<0.001 by Student’s t-test.
Melior can initiate your CT26 tumor model study with very short lead times and with bespoke study design to suit your needs. Including time to establish tumor-bearing mice (~10 days) and typical treatment times (~10 days) these studies normally run for approximately 3-4 weeks. The CT26 syngeneic mouse model yields highly reproducible tumor growth curves with small error bars capable of detecting small changes in growth rates will relatively small group sizes.