Osteosarcomagenesis: Modeling Cancer Initiation in the Mouse

Figure 1

Osteosarcomagenesis can be induced in genetically wild-type mice through a variety of means. Most heavy metal radioisotopes will naturally home to ossifying bone matrix in the metabolically active metaphyses of long bones, emitting their radiation locally after embedding. External beam radiation in varied forms has also proven successfully osteosarcomagenic. Although a few chemical carcinogens administered systemically by oral or intravenous application in mice have proven sufficient, most osteosarcomagenic chemical compounds have been orthotopically implanted in the tibia or femur.