A bone metastases model of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma in athymic nude mice.

Aim: Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC), an aggressive form of thyroid cancer, represents less than 2% of all thyroid cancers. The survival of patients with ATC remains low especially when accompanied with bone metastasis. This study aims to establish a reproducible animal model of bone metastasis of ATC which may be useful for further research on novel treatment strategy.

Methods: Eight 6-8 week old female athymic nude mice were randomly selected. ATC cell line ARO cells were injected into the left ventricular cavity of each mouse respectively. Each mouse was imaged using a dedicated small-animal PET/CT scanner after successful injection of [(18)F]-FDG under deep anesthesia. Pathological examination was carried out to confirm the bone metastases of ATC.

Results: Histopathology established ATC bone metastases in five nude mice's tibia. Similarly, PET image displayed significantly increased radioactivity (P<0.01) in the established bone metastasis compared with the control normal tibia.

Conclusions: Both micro-PET/CT and histomorphometric measurement confirmed the bone metastases model of ATC in nude mice by left ventricular cavity injection of ARO cell line. The bone metastases model of ATC will thus facilitate the understanding of its pathogenesis and aid in the development of novel therapies.