Practical Considerations in Studying Metastatic Lung Colonization in Osteosarcoma Using the Pulmonary Metastasis Assay

The overall goal of this pulmonary metastasis assay is to directly visualize and study the growth of metastatic osteosarcoma cells in viable lung tissue. This method can help answer really key questions in the osteosarcoma metastasis field. Such as, how metastatic osteosarcoma cells adapt, survive, and proliferate in the lung micro environment.

The main advantage of this technique is that it permits a direct visualization of metastatic osteosarcoma cell growth in a relevant three dimensional micro environment. Generally, individuals new to this method will struggle, because of the technically challenging steps of cannulating the trachea and insufflating the lung. The tail vein injection of tumor cells and mouse euthanasia are done according to standard institutional guidelines.