Experimental brain tumor in adult mongrel cat

: Small animal models such as the rat have serious limitations for multiple human scale instrumentation, surgical manipulations, and computerized tomographic (CT) evaluations, so that large animal models are required for the study using them. Although brain tumors induced with Rous sarcoma virus in neonatal beagle or adult monkey had been reported, these animals are very expensive ones for tumor research. A major drawback of virally induced brain tumor model is, moreover, the need for specialized viral facilities and safety precautions for laboratory personnel. In this paper, a cat glioma model implanted with C6 glioma cells derived from rats injected with N-nitrosomethylurea is reported. For an implantation dose of 5 x 10(5) cells/50 microliters, C6 glioma cells were suspended in modified Eagle medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum and 0.5% agar. Twenty adult mongrel cats were injected with 5 x 10(5) C6 glioma cells intracerebrally. Implanted cats had brain tumors of about 10 mm in diameter with a yield of 80%. The mean survival was about 3 weeks after implantation. Tumors developed as spheroidal, hemorrhagic masses with central areas of necrosis and peripheral edema. They were located within the parenchyma of the implanted region. This tumor possessed many of the histological and radiological characteristics of human glioblastoma such as the following: Areas of hemorrhage and necrosis surrounded by pseudopallisading were observed within the tumor consisting of spindle-shaped cells with pleomorphic nuclei. A mass lesion with ring or garland-like enhancement surrounded by brain edema was shown on the CT scans.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)