ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews some of the types of immunodeficient strains used in oncology research and the various techniques of immunosuppression and immunodeprivation, with particular emphasis on their usefulness in providing murine hosts for human tumor xenografts. Combining mutants has resulted in mice with multiple immunodeficiencies and provided valuable models to study interactions within the immune system. Several of the strains of immunodeficient mice have been investigated for their ability to act as hosts for human tumor xenografts in attempts to propagate tumors which are only poorly transplantable in nude mice. In 1961, J. F. A. P. Miller demonstrated that neonatal thymectomy of mice prolonged the survival of allogeneic skin grafts. A variety of murine immunodeficient hosts are available for the purpose of maintaining human tumor xenografts. The nude mouse represents the most widely used immunodeficient mouse and the nu gene has been successfully introduced into many strains to provide animals with defined genetic backgrounds.
