JAX® In Vivo Services Expands Support for Cancer Research

JAX® NOTES Issue 509, Spring 2008

Dr. Kevin Mills weighs an immunodeficient mouse
Dr. Kevin Mills weighs
an immunodeficient mouse.
JAX® In Vivo Services is significantly expanding its service offerings for cancer research. This expansion comes at a very critical time to meet the increased demands of expediting translational cancer medicine. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2005, 7.6 million people died of cancer — 13% of the 58 million deaths worldwide. These numbers are expected to reach 9 million in 2015 and 11.4 million in 2030. In the United States, each year since 1950, cancer has been responsible for approximately 25% of all deaths, second only to deaths caused by heart disease.

As an NCI-designated National Cancer Research Center, we have joined the fight to eliminate all cancer deaths by 2015, a goal set by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Leveraging our nearly 80 years of expertise in mouse genetics and husbandry, JAX® In Vivo Services is poised to offer the cancer research community the most comprehensive, fully customizable, and cost-effective suite of cancer target validation and efficacy testing services available. JAX® In Vivo Services' current capabilities for supporting cancer research include the following:

  • A state-of-the-art phenotyping laboratory that boasts a broad array of high-throughput, cost effective, and non-invasive test platforms for characterizing models, evaluating key physiological parameters, validating drug targets, and testing drug efficacy,
  • An expansive selection of xenograft, orthotopic, and endogenous mouse models for multiple human cancer therapeutic areas,
  • Measurement of orthotopic tumor growth and metastasis through non-invasive bioluminescent and fluorescent imaging,
  • Facilitated access to our best JAX® Mice cancer models, including the NOD.Cg-Prkdcscid Il2rgtm1Wjl/SzJ (005557) mouse for developing humanized mouse models of cancer,
  • Flexibility to customize studies and import client-provided animals and cancer cell lines,
  • PhD study directors and technical staff dedicated specifically for cancer in vivo service,
  • Highly skilled experts at dosing and testing drug efficacy in over 100 mouse models, including diverse cancer models, and
  • Support from The Jackson Laboratory's extensive research staff, which includes 218 PhDs.