Figure 3

Growth of SiHa _CDV compared to SiHa _parental in a xenograft model in athymic nude mice. (A) Tumor growth was determined in nu/nu mice bearing SiHa _CDV or SiHa _parental grown as xenograft at different time points post-inoculation of the cells. Data were collected from two independent experiments (including a total of 15 mice/group) over a period of 5 weeks and are presented as the average tumor volume (mm³) ± SEM. Tumors were measured by means of a digital caliper in two directions (perpendicular diameters) and the formula V = (4πab²)/3, with ‘a’ and ‘b’ being the largest and smallest radius of the tumor, respectively, was applied to calculate the tumor volume. (B) Body weight of the mice (excluding the tumor mass) was determined after 5 weeks of inoculation of the cells and body weight gain was calculated as percentage of the initial body weight of the mice at the start of the experiment. Data shown represent the average (±SD) of five individual mice per group. Healthy control mice gained 47.0 ± 4.4% of their initial body weight, while mice bearing the SiHa _parental cells only gained 33.2 ± 7.1% (p < 0.01 compared to tumor-free mice). An intermediate body weight gain of 38.2 ± 9.8 (p > 0.05) compared to healthy control mice was recorded for mice with SiHa _CDV . (C) Weight of the spleens was assessed at different weeks post-inoculation of the cells.