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Zebrafish xenotransplantation as a tool for in vivo cancer study

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Abstract

Zebrafish represents a powerful model for cancer research. Particularly, the xenotransplantation of human cancer cells into zebrafish has enormous potential for further evaluation of cancer progression and drug discovery. Various cancer models have been established in adults, juveniles and embryos of zebrafish. This xenotransplantation zebrafish model provides a unique opportunity to monitor cancer proliferation, tumor angiogenesis, metastasis, self-renewal of cancer stem cells, and drug response in real time in vivo. This review summarizes the use of zebrafish as a model for cancer xenotransplantation, and highlights its advantages and disadvantages.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Prof. Toshio Tanaka in Mie University Medical Zebrafish Research Center of Japan for the support of zebrafish research and R. Ikeyama and Y. Tamura for secretarial assistance.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu, Japan

      Beibei Zhang

    2. Department of Clinical Laboratory, The Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Qingdao University, Qingdao, People’s Republic of China

      Chao Xuan

    3. Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning, People’s Republic of China

      Yunxi Ji & Daogang Wang

    4. Department of Oncology, The Affiliated Hospital of Binzhou Medical College, Binzhou, People’s Republic of China

      Weiming Zhang

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    1. Beibei Zhang
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    Correspondence to Daogang Wang.

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    Beibei Zhang and Chao Xuan have contributed equally to this work.

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    Zhang, B., Xuan, C., Ji, Y. et al. Zebrafish xenotransplantation as a tool for in vivo cancer study. Familial Cancer 14, 487–493 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10689-015-9802-3

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