Differential Effects of Trp53 Alterations in Murine Colorectal Cancer

Although colorectal cancer is among the most frequent malignant tumors, thereare currently no mouse models available that reliably mimic both tumor biology as well as treatmentresponse. In this article, we describe a novel mouse model in which mutations relevant to colorectalcancer are induced in mice, leading to tumor formation in the distal colon. The tumors are monitoredvia colonoscopy, and the survival and the histology of the tumors are examined. We demonstrate thatthis model can closely model the human disease clinically, histologically and genetically. In addition,the response of this model to classical colorectal cancer treatments is more realistic than that of othermouse models. The effects of different mutations in the Trp53 gene on tumor cells show strikingdifferences, similar to the effects in other tumor diseases. In summary, the new model allows moreaccurate and predictive experiments in colorectal cancer.