%0 Journal Article %T The Syngeneic BT4C Rat Malignant Glioma is a Valuable Model to Study Myelomonocytic Cells in Tumors %A Thomas Wirth %A Farizan Ahmad %A Agnieszka Pacholska %A Haritha Samaranayake and Seppo Yl -Herttuala %J Cancer Growth and Metastasis %D 2012 %I %R 10.4137/CGM.S9314 %X Background: The impact of infiltrating macrophages on tumor progression in malignant gliomas has been studied extensively. However, there is a lack of animal models for studying the role of infiltrating macrophages in malignant gliomas. Material and methods: The BT4C rat malignant glioma model was characterized by immunohistochemical analysis of inflammatory cell types associated with the tumors. Results: BT4C malignant gliomas are highly vascularized tumors with an infiltrative behavior. BT4C gliomas demonstrated a high infiltration rate of macrophages. Particularly, a CD68/VEGFR-1 positive subtype of macrophages was detected at the edges of malignant gliomas. Also, CD133 positive cells were located mainly at the infiltrative edges of gliomas, whereas VEGFR-2 was highly expressed throughout the malignant glioma. Conclusion: The immunocompetent BT4C rat malignant glioma model shows features similar to its human counterpart, which makes it a valuable model to study the impact of tumor associated macrophages in the pathology of malignant gliomas. %U http://www.la-press.com/the-syngeneic-bt4c-rat-malignant-glioma-is-a-valuable-model-to-study-m-article-a3199