A new rat model of bone cancer pain.

Pain is a major symptom of bone cancer. Bone cancer pain significantly affects quality of life, but its underlying mechanisms have not been defined. Because skeletal metastases are particularly common in patients with prostate cancer, a model that mimics bone cancer pain has been established by injecting AT-3.1 prostate cancer cells into the tibia of the male Copenhagen rat. The model shows progressive hyperalgesia and allodynia that are associated with the gradual destruction of the tibia and can be used to study the mechanisms, such as glial activation, of these disorders.