Stereotaxic Implantation of F98 Cells in Fischer Rats: A Syngeneic Model to Investigate Photodynamic Therapy Response in Glioma.

When investigating the promise of novel therapeutic modalities, the choice of an appropriate and reproducible in vivo model is critical to determine the relevance of the findings. In the case of glioblastoma, a high-grade glioma tumor that is clinically characterized by a high infiltrative pattern, no existing model exactly mimics the clinical features of these tumors. However, a syngeneic rat model of glioblastoma in which F98 cells are orthotopically implanted can recapitulate most of the characteristics of glioma as observed in patients, including a highly aggressive nature, a high degree of infiltration of cancer cells into healthy tissue, and a strong resistance to commonly used treatments including radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Here, we provide a detailed protocol to stereotaxically implant F98 cells in the rat brain and obtain a reproducible and clinically representative glioma model in rodents.