Doxorubicin delivered by subcutaneous pellets suppresses uterine sarcoma xerografts in athymic mice.
An in vivo model system has been developed to test the sensitivity of human malignancies xerotransplanted into athymic mice for sensitivity to a chemotherapeutic agent, delivered by subcutaneously placed, slow-release pellets. Pellets were specially created to release set amounts of doxorubicin (DX). BALB/c nude mice were injected with equal aliquots of minced human mixed mullerian sarcoma (MMS) of the uterus and divided into groups: control and DX-treated (750 micrograms/day). The tumor growth rate in the DX-treated group of mice was significantly reduced when compared to controls in two experiments, 1 (P less than 0.001) and 2 (P less than 0.01). Final tumor weight was also significantly less in the DX-treated group (P less than 0.001). This model system, utilizing pellet delivery of chemotherapy to human malignancies heterotransplanted into athymic mice, may be an effective means of screening the activity of anticancer agents on human tumors, avoiding more cumbersome drug administration methods.