Abstract:

Objective To establish animal model of retinoblastoma by injecting the tumor cells into the vitreous cavity of nude mice and to observe growth status of the tumor. Design Experimental research. Participants Thirty BALB/c nude mice. Methods The cell suspension of human retinoblastoma cell line Y79, WERI-RB1 and SO-Rb50 were prepared, the cell concentration was adjusted to 1.0×108/ml, then 3 μl of the tumor cell suspensions were injected into the right vitreous cavity of 10 nude mice in the each cell line group (group A, B, and C, respectively). Main Outcome Measures tumorigenic rate, tumorigenic time, and the growth status of the tumor. Results In Y79 cell line group (group A), all of the models of retinoblastoma were successfully established by injecting the cell suspensions of cells into the mice vitreous cavities. The growth cycle was 3 days to 10 weeks. In WERI-RB1 cell line group (group B), 88.9% of the models were successfully established. The growth cycle was 16 days to 14 weeks. In SO-Rb50 cell line group (group C), 88.9% of the models were successfully established. The growth cycle was 19 days to 10 weeks. There were 7 cases of optic nerve invasion in group A, 2 cases in group B, and 6 cases in group C. There were 5 cases of anterior chamber invasion in group A, none in group B, and 4 cases in group C. There were 5 cases of iris/ciliary body invasion in group A, none in group B, and 4 cases in group C. No choroid invasion was found in the three groups. There were 3 cases of corneal neovascularization in group A, none in group B, and 3 cases in group C. Conclusion The animal model of retinoblastoma can be established by injection the tumor cells into vitreous cavities of the nude mice. Increased invasiveness was seen in Y79 and SO-Rb50 cell lines than WERI-RB1 cell lines.

Key words: retinoblastoma, animal model, transplantation tumor, vitreous cavity, tumor invasion