Orthotopic breast cancer models are suitable for testing the efficacy of drug compounds against primary tumor growth in the proper tissue microenvironment. They involve inoculation of breast cancer cells into the mammary fat pad, leading to development of a primary mammary tumor to the site of inoculation. Pharmatest offers orthotopic breast cancer models with either human estrogen receptor positive MCF-7 cell line or triple negative human MDA-MB-231(SA) or mouse 4T1 cell lines. Tumor growth is monitored by measuring the dimensions of the tumor at desired intervals during the experiment. At the end of the experiment, the primary tumor and selected organs are collected for further analysis. In the case of the triple negative cell lines, metastasis to various distant sites, such as lungs can also be rapidly determined by ex vivo fluorescence imaging. Several additional parameters can be studied by immunohistochemistry, including angiogenesis, hypoxia, proliferation rate and apoptosis.

Breast cancer metastasis models are suitable for testing the efficacy of drug compounds against several dissemination processes and growth in specific microenvironments. The metastasis models are demanding for the drug candidate, but they have an excellent clinical predictivity. Our intracardiac breast cancer bone metastasis models are clinically predictive models of cancer-induced bone disease. Radiography and dynamic fluorescence imaging reveal the progression of the disease. The data is analyzed for tumor burden, and in bone metastasis studies also bone lesion number and area. Histological bone samples can be analyzed for tumor area, trabecular bone area and osteoclast number to reveal detailed information about the test compound's effects on bone metastases.