Abstract 2114: Murinemodels of bone and brain metastasis for preclinical cancer research.

Abstract Tumor metastasis remains a daunting challenge in cancer treatment and is a major driver of poor prognosis and therapy resistance. Despite remarkable advances in oncology, effective therapies for metastatic disease remain scarce—highlighting an urgent need for clinically relevant preclinical models to dissect metastasis mechanisms and validate anti-metastatic strategies. To bridge this gap, we developed robust mouse models of bone and brain metastasis that faithfully recapitulate clinical metastatic progression. For the bone metastasis model, MDA-MB-231-Luc human breast cancer cells were injected into the left ventricle of immunodeficient mice via ultrasound-guided intracardiac injection. Through in vivo selection, we derived a subclone with enhanced metastatic potential that preferentially colonizes the spine and lower limb bones. This model recapitulates key clinical hallmarks of bone metastasis—including tumor-mediated bone destruction and osteolytic lesions—with tumor colonization confirmed via bioluminescence imaging (BLI). For the brain metastasis model, LLC1-Luc lung cancer cells were injected into the common carotid artery to enable direct dissemination to the brain. Bioluminescence imaging demonstrated progressive tumor colonization over time, and this model provides a valuable platform to dissect brain metastasis mechanisms and test novel therapeutic strategies targeting central nervous system (CNS) metastases. Collectively, these models offer clinically relevant platforms to investigate metastasis mechanisms, identify therapeutic targets, and discover novel biomarkers. Furthermore, we generated a panel of luciferase-labeled cancer cell lines to facilitate advanced metastasis research. Our preclinical models accurately recapitulate the metastatic cascade, serving as a translational bridge for drug discovery, therapeutic validation, and biomarker development—ultimately accelerating the translation of next-generation cancer therapeutics into the clinic. Citation Format: Hongyan Sun, Fang Zhu, Yan Wang, Yuan Fang, Yuqing Han, Jianming Xu, Huixin Yang, Xiang Gao. Murinemodels of bone and brain metastasis for preclinical cancer research abstract. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2026; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2026 Apr 17-22; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2026;86(7 Suppl):Abstract nr 2114.