GROWTH OF HUMAN PARAGANGLIOMAS IN THE SUBRENAL CAPSULE OF THE NUDE-MOUSE

Paragangliomas are generally benign, highly vascular, and slowly growi ng tumors of neural crest lineage that occur disproportionately in wom en. Surgery can manage small tumors expeditiously, but extirpation of large tumors is associated with morbidity and even mortality. Radiatio n therapy offers relatively good tumor control but also presents devel opment of a secondary malignant neoplasm as a possible consequence. Ca ncer chemotherapeutic agents have been used only in rare metastasizing paragangliomas because they also are associated with considerable mor bidity. A better understanding of the biology of human paragangliomas, to encompass the molecular biology of these tumors, is essential for the development of a less morbid, tumor-targeted therapy. This prelimi nary investigation is aimed at testing the hypothesis that the subrena l capsule of the nude mouse is a viable model for in vivo study of the molecular biology of human paragangliomas. None of the five tumors im planted survived for the duration of the study period. Accordingly, th e nude mouse subrenal capsule does not appear to be useful in the stud y of human paragangliomas.