Most currently available colorectal cancer (CRC) mouse models are not suitable for studying progression toward the metastatic stage. Recently, establishment of tumor organoid lines, either from murine CRC models or patients, and the possibility of engineering them with genome-editing technologies, have provided a large collection of tumor material faithfully recapitulating phenotypic and genetic heterogeneity of native tumors. To study tumor progression in the natural in vivo environment, we developed an orthotopic approach based on transplantation of CRC organoids into the cecal epithelium. The 20-min procedure is described in detail here and enables growth of transplanted organoids into a single tumor mass within the intestinal tract. Due to long latency, tumor cells are capable of spreading through the blood circulation and forming metastases at distant sites. This method is designed to generate tumors suitable for studying CRC progression, thereby providing the opportunity to visualize tumor cell dynamics in vivo in real time by intravital microscopy.

中文翻译：

---

在小鼠中进行外科手术原位类器官移植的方法，以可视化和研究结直肠癌的进展。

当前大多数可用的结直肠癌（CRC）小鼠模型都不适合研究向转移阶段的进展。最近，从鼠类CRC模型或患者中建立肿瘤类器官细胞系，以及利用基因组编辑技术对其进行工程改造的可能性，已提供了一大批忠实地再现天然肿瘤的表型和遗传异质性的肿瘤材料。为了研究天然体内环境下的肿瘤进展，我们开发了一种基于CRC类器官移植到盲肠上皮中的原位研究方法。20分钟的过程在此进行了详细描述，并使移植的类器官能够生长到肠道内的单个肿瘤块中。由于等待时间长，肿瘤细胞能够通过血液循环扩散并在远处形成转移灶。此方法旨在产生适合研究CRC进展的肿瘤，从而提供通过活体显微镜实时观察体内肿瘤细胞动态的机会。