Mouse Models of Cancer

"The laboratory mouse is an important model for studying cancer and its treatment. This book includes both background information and step-by-step protocols for generating mouse models that accurately recapitulate many features of human cancer. It covers genetic models, including transgenic germline models, gene knockouts and knockins, and conditional and inducible systems, as well as models derived using chemical carcinogens, RNA interference, tissue recombination, and other strategies. Techniques to characterize tumor development, progression, and metastasis in these mice using state-of-the-art imaging, histopathological, surgical, and other approaches are described. The uses of these models in preclinical and translational research are also discussed"-- "99% of mouse protein-coding genes have an equivalent homolog in the human genome, despite the striking differences in appearance between mouse and man. This remarkable genetic similarity, together with our ability to finely engineer the murine genome, has made the mouse the ideal animal in which to model and analyze human biology and disease. This book envisages the next generation of mouse models, and it also addresses the strategic use of mice in the fight against cancer"--