Using body temperature, food and water consumption as biomarkers of disease progression in mice with Eμ-myc lymphoma

Abstract

Background:Non-invasive biomarkers of disease progression in mice with cancer are lacking making it challenging to implement appropriate humane end points. We investigated whether body temperature, food and water consumption could be used to predict tumour burden.Methods:Thirty-six male, wild-type C57Bl/6 mice were implanted with subcutaneous RFID temperature sensors and inoculated with Eμ-myc tumours that infiltrate lymphoid tissue.Results:Decrease in body temperature over the course of the study positively predicted post-mortem lymph node tumour burden (R2=0.68, F(1,22)=44.8, P<0.001). At experimental and humane end points, all mice that had a mean decrease in body temperature of 0.7 °C or greater had lymph nodes heavier than 0.5 g (100% sensitivity), whereas a mean decrease in body temperature <0.7 °C always predicted lymph nodes lighter than 0.5 g (100% specificity). The mean decrease in food consumption in each cage also predicted mean post-mortem lymph node tumour burden at 3 weeks (R2=0.89, F(1,3)=23.2, P=0.017).Conclusion:Temperature, food and water consumption were useful biomarkers of disease progression in mice with lymphoma and could potentially be used more widely to monitor mice with other forms of cancer.