Towards a glioma model for surgical technique evaluation in the rat

AbstractIntroduction. Evaluation of new surgical techniques in animal models is frequently challenging. This article describes the pitfalls, peculiarities and the final best applicable model for evaluating surgical techniques for glioma resection. Methods. The C6 glioma cell line and the Sprague-Dawley rat strain were selected. Fifty-thousand glioma cells were stereotactically transplanted in the left hemisphere of 137 male adult rats. Evaluation of solid tumour formation, tumour growth and scheduling of surgical resection was performed by MR scanning at 1, 2, and 4 weeks after transplantation and 3 and 6 months after tumour resection. Microsurgical tumour resection was performed with conventional techniques or with the waterjet dissector at a pressure of 6 bar. One subgroup of each surgical technique was sacrificed directly after surgery for histological analysis. The other subgroup was followed up for long-term analysis. Results. The transplantation site was of great importance. After transplantation of...