ArticleLaboratory animals2018
Analgesics promote welfare and sustain tumour growth in orthotopic 4T1 and B16 mouse cancer models.
Article in Laboratory animals, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of opioids on tumour growth and metastasis in animal models: a systematic review.British journal of anaesthesia · 2025Pooled it
- Administration of meloxicam to improve the welfare of mice in research: a systematic review (2000 - 2020).Veterinary research communications · 2022Pooled it
- Robust Scoring System to Evaluate Animal Well-Being in Murine (Mus musculus) Orthotopic Breast Cancer and Ovarian Cancer Models.Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS · 2026Article
- The OBSERVE guidelines provide refinement criteria for rodent oncology models.Nature protocols · 2024Article
- OBSERVE: guidelines for the refinement of rodent cancer models.Nature protocols · 2024Review
- Evidence-Based Severity Assessment of Animal Models for Pancreatic Cancer.Biomedicines · 2024Article
- Article
- Robustness of a multivariate composite score when evaluating distress of animal models for gastrointestinal diseases.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- A biomimetic nanoplatform for customized photothermal therapy of HNSCC evaluated on patient-derived xenograft models.International journal of oral science · 2023Article
- Article
- 'Invisible actors'-How poor methodology reporting compromises mouse models of oncology: A cross-sectional survey.PloS one · 2022Article
- Welfare Assessment, End-Point Refinement and the Effects of Non-Aversive Handling in C57BL/6 Mice with Lewis Lung Cancer.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2021Article
- Diagnostic Ability of Methods Depicting Distress of Tumor-Bearing Mice.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2021Article
- In Vitro Effects of Selective COX and LOX Inhibitors and Their Combinations with Antineoplastic Drugs in the Mouse Melanoma Cell Line B16F10.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Article
- Effects of Analgesics on Tumor Growth in Mouse Models of Prostate Cancer Bone Metastasis.Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS · 2021Article
- Refinement of Animal Model of Colorectal Carcinogenesis through the Definition of Novel Humane Endpoints.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2021Article
- Analysis of Animal Well-Being When Supplementing Drinking Water with Tramadol or Metamizole during Chronic Pancreatitis.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2020Article
- Comparing distress of mouse models for liver damage.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Animal Models of Cancer-Related Pain: Current Perspectives in Translation.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2020Review
- Influence of Pain and Analgesia on Cancer Research Studies.Comparative medicine · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Murine orthotopic cancer models often require surgery, potentially causing pain or distress. However, analgesics are often withheld because they may alter tumour development. Two orthotopically implanted cancers were investigated in mice pre-treated with meloxicam (10 mg/kg), buprenorphine (0.2 mg/kg) or saline (1 ml/kg). Tumours were imaged and welfare was assessed using body weight, behaviour and nociceptive responses. In study 1, BALB/c mice were inoculated with 4T1 mammary carcinoma or saline during surgery or anaesthesia. As pre-treatment with a single buprenorphine dose appeared beneficial to cancer growth consistency, a second cohort of mice additionally received saline or buprenorphine at 12 and 24 h. Surgery resulted in increased mammary tumour growth and lung metastases. These unwanted effects were lessened by buprenorphine pre-treatment, especially when given repeatedly. Mammary tumour-bearing mice became less active and nociceptive thresholds declined over time, indicating some discomfort as tumours grew. In study 2, C57BL/6 mice received B16 melanoma. This non-surgical model was used to determine whether meloxicam or buprenorphine affected cancer seeding of the lungs. While meloxicam reduced B16 lung seeding, buprenorphine did not. Mechanical thresholds decreased as cancer developed in mice bearing melanoma, but the magnitude of this was insufficient to conclude that there were any significant welfare concerns. This study highlights the scientific value in utilising non-surgical models, where possible. When surgery must be performed at the time of tumour inoculation, the effects of this should be controlled with appropriate analgesics to enhance the value and possibly translation of the research.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.