HCC70 Orthotopic Mouse Model Service for Breast Cancer

The HCC70 orthotopic mouse model recapitulates triple-negative breast cancer within its native mammary tissue architecture, offering a clinically relevant preclinical system for interrogating aggressive tumor growth, stromal interactions, and therapeutic vulnerability in the absence of hormone receptor or HER2 targets. Alfa Cytology delivers precision-built HCC70 orthotopic programs spanning authenticated cell sourcing, surgical implantation into the mammary fat pad, longitudinal tumor monitoring, and comprehensive histopathological endpoint analysis to advance your TNBC drug discovery and development initiatives.

Overview of HCC70 Orthotopic Mouse Model for Breast Cancer

HCC70 is a human triple-negative breast cancer cell line originally derived from a primary ductal carcinoma resected from a 49-year-old female donor. Characterized by the absence of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) expression, HCC70 falls within the basal-like molecular subclass and carries a mutated TP53 allele alongside microsatellite-stable genomic architecture. When implanted orthotopically into the mammary fat pad of immunodeficient hosts such as athymic nude (Nu/Nu) mice, HCC70 tumors establish within the physiologically relevant breast stroma, exhibiting aggressive local growth patterns and providing a faithful representation of the TNBC microenvironment for preclinical therapeutic screening.

Fig 1. Effect of MEC and pp38MAPK inhibitor SB203580 on tumor growth in NIC and HFD-treated nude mice: HCC70 breast cancer cells (2×10⁶ cell/mice) were implanted in nude mice prefed on HFD (2 weeks) and exposed to NIC (intraperitoneal injection twice/day for 2 weeks, 0.75 mg/kg/mice/injection). (Jimenez, Thalia, et al., 2020)

Unlike hormone receptor-driven or HER2-amplified models, the HCC70 platform is unresponsive to endocrine or anti-HER2 interventions, making it indispensable for evaluating cytotoxic chemotherapeutics, DNA-damaging agents, PARP inhibitors, immune checkpoint combinations, and emerging targeted strategies directed at basal-like vulnerabilities. The model demonstrates reliable tumorigenicity in vivo with predictable growth kinetics, and its responsiveness to standard-of-care agents such as paclitaxel has been well characterized, providing a robust positive control framework for comparative efficacy studies.

Cell Line Information: HCC70

HCC70 exhibits epithelial-like morphology with adherent growth properties. Under three-dimensional culture conditions, the line forms compact spheroidal aggregates reminiscent of multicellular tumor spheroids, displaying elevated mitochondrial content, autophagic vacuoles, and intercellular junctions compared to monolayer counterparts. These ultrastructural features reflect the aggressive metabolic phenotype characteristic of basal-like triple-negative breast cancer.

Our Services

Alfa Cytology offers end-to-end HCC70 orthotopic model services grounded in rigorous preclinical standards, encompassing authenticated cell line procurement, standardized mammary fat pad surgical implantation, twice-weekly caliper-based tumor volumetrics, and terminal necropsy with histopathological, immunohistochemical, and molecular endpoint analysis to support your TNBC therapeutic pipeline from early candidate screening through late-stage pharmacological characterization.

Workflow of HCC70 Orthotopic Mouse Model Construction

HCC70 orthotopic model construction follows a streamlined, quality-controlled protocol designed to maximize tumor take rates while minimizing surgical variability. Each stage is executed under veterinary oversight with continuous documentation to ensure data integrity across cohorts.

1. Cell Authentication and Expansion: Low-passage HCC70 cells are expanded from authenticated ATCC stocks, verified by STR profiling, and confirmed triple-negative by immunocytochemistry prior to inoculum preparation.
2. Host Selection and Randomization: Female immunodeficient mice (Nu/Nu or NSG, 6–8 weeks) are acclimatized for one week, health-screened, and randomized by body weight to establish comparable baseline cohorts.
3. Single-Cell Suspension Preparation: Adherent HCC70 cells are gently detached with trypsin-EDTA, resuspended in serum-free medium, counted, and diluted to the target concentration; viability is confirmed by trypan blue exclusion exceeding 95%.
4. Orthotopic Surgical Implantation: Under isoflurane anesthesia, a small incision is made over the fourth inguinal mammary gland, the fat pad is exteriorized, and a 50–100 µL cell suspension (1–5 × 10⁶ cells) is injected directly into the mammary adipose tissue using a 27-gauge needle.
5. Postoperative Recovery and Monitoring: The incision is closed with sterile wound clips, analgesia is administered, and mice are monitored on a warming pad until fully ambulatory; daily health checks continue for the first 72 hours.
6. Longitudinal Tumor Assessment: Palpable tumors are measured twice weekly with digital calipers using the formula V = 0.5 × L × W²; body weight and clinical signs are recorded concurrently to monitor treatment tolerability.
7. Study Randomization and Dosing: Upon reaching a predetermined tumor volume (typically 100–200 mm³), mice are randomized into treatment and vehicle-control groups stratified by tumor size to ensure balanced baseline comparisons.
8. Endpoint Harvest and Analysis: At study termination, final tumor dimensions and body weights are recorded, primary tumors are excised and weighed, and tissues are processed for histology, IHC, or downstream molecular profiling as specified in the study protocol.

Fig 2. HCC70 Orthotopic Mouse Model construction workflow.

Case Study-HCC70 Orthotopic Mouse Model Development

In a preclinical efficacy evaluation, the HCC70 orthotopic model was utilized to assess the antitumor activity of a novel therapeutic candidate administered as monotherapy or in combination with a standard cytotoxic backbone. The study monitored primary tumor growth kinetics, body weight changes as a proxy for tolerability, and terminal tumor burden, generating quantitative efficacy metrics including tumor growth inhibition and tumor growth delay indices to inform downstream candidate prioritization for triple-negative breast cancer indications.

Why Choose Alfa Cytology?

Alfa Cytology brings specialized expertise in triple-negative breast cancer orthotopic modeling, combining meticulous surgical technique with comprehensive analytical capabilities to deliver actionable preclinical data for your TNBC therapeutic programs.

• TNBC-Focused Modeling: Deep proficiency in basal-like, receptor-negative breast cancer systems with established positive control benchmarks including paclitaxel responsiveness.
• Standardized Surgical Protocols: Refined mammary fat pad implantation techniques optimized for HCC70's adherent, epithelial-like morphology, ensuring high engraftment consistency and reproducible growth curves.
• Integrated Endpoint Analysis: Comprehensive histopathology, Ki-67 proliferation indexing, TUNEL apoptosis quantification, and multiplex IHC available as standardized or customizable readouts.
• Combination Study Design: Proven capability to evaluate cytotoxic backbones paired with novel targeted agents, DNA repair inhibitors, or immunomodulatory compounds in the TNBC context.
• Regulatory-Compliant Operations: All procedures conducted under IACUC-approved protocols with full chain-of-custody documentation, veterinary oversight, and GLP-aligned data management.

Contact Us

Whether you are advancing a novel cytotoxic compound, a DNA damage response inhibitor, or an immunotherapy strategy for triple-negative breast cancer, Alfa Cytology has the technical infrastructure and scientific depth to advance your program. Contact us today to discuss your HCC70 orthotopic study design, and our team will craft a tailored preclinical program aligned with your discovery milestones and data requirements.

For research use only. Not intended for any clinical use.