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American Journal of Pathology, Vol 86, 437-458, Copyright © 1977 by American Society for Investigative Pathology

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Virus-induced animal model of osteosarcoma in the rat: Morphologic and biochemical studies

HM Olson and CC Capen

Osteosarcomas were produced by the intratibial inoculation of New Zealand black rats with Moloney sarcoma virus (MSV) at 1 day and 4 days of age. Radiographic evidence of osteosarcoma development was first demonstrated at 10 to 15 days postinoculation in both groups. Subsequent radiographic and light and electron microscopic evaluation of tumor-bearing rats demonstrated that osteosarcomas in rats inoculated at Day 4 of age were more osteoproliferative osteosarcomas than those in rats inoculated on Day 1. Rats inoculated at 4 days of age lived longer, had more slowly growing osteosarcomas, and developed a consistent tumor-associated cachexia compared to tumor-bearing rats inoculated at Day 1. Both groups of rats had a 93% metastasis rate involving either sublumbar lymph nodes, lungs, or both. Tumor-bearing rats inoculated at 4 days of age had consistent elevations in both urinary hydroxyproline excretion (HOP/CR) and serum alkaline phosphatase levels, and in serum calcium levels at some time points. The high tumor incidence after a short latent period and the morphologic and biochemical similarities between the MSV-induced murine osteosarcoma and the osteosarcoma in human beings makes this discrete tumor and a valuable animal model for the evaluation of new therapeutic regimens.