Research Status of Mouse Models for Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) and Antitumor Therapy of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in Mouse Models

Abstract

Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is known as one of the most lethal cancers, causing more than 1 million deaths annually worldwide. Therefore, the development of novel therapeutic drugs for NSCLC has become an urgent need. Herein, various mouse models provide great convenience not only for researchers but also for the development of antitumor drug. Meanwhile, TCM, as a valuable and largely untapped resource pool for modern medicine, provides research resources for the treatment of various diseases. Until now, cell-derived xenograft (CDX) model, patient-derived xenograft (PDX) model, syngeneic model, orthotopic model, humanized mouse model (HIS), and genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs) have been reported in TCM evaluation. This review shows the role and current status of kinds of mouse models in antitumor research and summarizes the application progress of TCM including extracts, formulas, and isolated single molecules for NSCLC therapy in various mouse models; more importantly, it provides a theoretical exploration of what kind of mouse models is ideal for TCM efficacy evaluation in future. However, there are still huge challenges and limitations in the development of mouse models specifically for the TCM research, and none of the available models are perfectly matching the characteristics of TCM, which suppress the tumor growth through various mechanisms, especially by regulating immune function. Nevertheless, with fully functional immune system existing in syngeneic model and humanized mouse model (HIS), it is still suggested that these two models are more suitable for development of TCM especially for TCM extracts or formulas. Moreover, continued efforts are needed to generate more reliable mouse models to test TCM formulas in future research.

Progress and application of lung-on-a-chip for lung cancer

“…But, analyses of drug pharmacokinetics (PKs) and pharmacodynamics (PDs) performed in animals are often not predictive of drug PKs and PDs in humans (Herland et al, 2020). Currently, more complex somatic mouse models of NSCLC (Marcazzan et al, 2021;Tien et al, 2021;Chen et al, 2022) and SCLC (Gonzales et al, 2018) have been produced that can highly mimic human lung cancer, which is crucial for the study of tumour drug resistance. However, animal models are not truly representative of human physiology, pathology and genetic characteristics and therefore cannot accurately predict how a drug will respond in the human body (Ahadian et al, 2018).…”

Development of clinical trials for non-small cell lung cancer drugs in China from 2005 to 2023

“…Although the mechanism of action of many traditional Chinese medicine products is still unclear, the therapeutic effects based on extensive experience is established. Traditional Chinese medicine has been shown to modulate tumor proliferation, cell adhesion, apoptosis, and tumor migration, impact angiogenesis and alter immune responsiveness (55)(56)(57). Mechanistic understanding underpinning Traditional Chinese medicine treatments in NSCLC need to be mined for new unanticipated opportunities.…”