Renca: A syngeneic renal cancer mouse model for testing immunotherapies

Author: Gunisha Arora, PhD, Medical and Scientific Writer, Scientific Development
Date: June 2024

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) primarily affects individuals aged 60 to 70 years, with men being twice as likely as women to develop the disease. Accounting for 3% of all adult cancers, RCC comprises multiple histological subtypes. Due to the asymptomatic nature of early-stage RCC, misdiagnosis and inadequate screening methods, over 50% of RCC cases are detected incidentally, and approximately 30% of patients are diagnosed with metastatic RCC. Recent advancements in the development of targeted therapies and immunotherapies to treat cancer warrant the need for an effective preclinical model with an intact and functional immune system, enabling the study of therapy-driven immune responses and tumor-induced immunosuppression.¹ The Renca cell line, originating from a spontaneous renal adenocarcinoma of Balb/c mice, is a highly aggressive renal cancer cell line particularly valuable for evaluating novel immunotherapies, making it an essential tool in RCC research.²

We have developed a syngeneic mouse model for RCC using the murine renal cell carcinoma line Renca (RENCA.TD1.1) through subcutaneous implantation in immunocompetent Balb/c mice. Tumor growth was found to be reproducible in this model. After staging at day 10, Renca tumor-bearing mice were evaluated for growth and anti-cancer activity of various standard of care agents used in RCC. Clinically relevant activity with radiation treatment along with a moderate response to sunitinib were observed.

Growth Kinetics

Figure 1. Growth kinetics of subcutaneous Renca tumors. Mean tumor burden (mm³) ± SE on the top left, percent body weight change ± SE on the top right and individual tumor growth curves on the bottom left.

Responses to Treatments

Figure 2. Efficacy of immunomodulatory agents (anti-mPD1, anti-mPD-L1 and anti-mCTLA-4), kinase inhibitor (sunitinib) and focal radiation in syngeneic Renca tumor model. Mean tumor burden (mm³) ± SE on the left and percent body weight change ± SE on the right.

Renca is a well-established murine renal cancer line that can be successfully used to generate an immunocompetent syngeneic mouse model for RCC to obtain decision-driving results for your potential drug candidates. Ongoing flow cytometry investigations into the tumor microenvironment here at Labcorp will further provide insights into the transcriptomic modulations of different immune cells found in the Renca tumor. The development of future immunotherapies and combination treatments for RCC starts in the lab using immunologically relevant models.

For other renal cancer models, check out our cell line list.