Construction of An Orthotopic Xenograft Model of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Mimicking Disease Progression and Predicting Drug Activities

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a highly lethal disease with a complex and heterogeneous tumor microenvironment. Currently, common animal models based on subcutaneous inoculation of cancer cell suspensions do not recapitulate the tumor microenvironment in NSCLC. Herein we describe a murine orthotopic lung cancer xenograft model that employs the intrapulmonary inoculation of three-dimensional multicellular spheroids (MCS). Specifically, fluorescent human NSCLC cells (A549-iRFP) were cultured in low-attachment 96-well microplates with collagen for 3 weeks to form MCS, which were then inoculated intercostally into the left lung of athymic nude mice to establish the orthotopic lung cancer model.

Compared with the original A549 cell line, MCS of the A549-iRFP cell line responded similarly to anticancer drugs. The long-wavelength fluorescent signal of the A549-iRFP cells correlated strongly with common markers of cancer cell growth, including spheroid volume, cell viability, and cellular protein level, thus allowing dynamic monitoring of the cancer growth in vivo by fluorescent imaging. After inoculation into mice, the A549-iRFP MCS xenograft reliably progressed through phases closely resembling the clinical stages of NSCLC, including the expansion of the primary tumor, the emergence of neighboring secondary tumors, and the metastases of cancer cells to the contralateral right lung and remote organs. Moreover, the model responded to the benchmark antilung cancer drug, cisplatin with the anticipated toxicity and slower cancer progression. Therefore, this murine orthotopic xenograft model of NSCLC would serve as a platform to recapitulate the disease's progression and facilitate the development of potential anticancer drugs.