Research advancements and evaluation of multifactor-induced murine models for gastric cancer.

Abstract

As one of the most prevalent gastrointestinal malignancies in humans, gastric cancer (GC) is often detected at an advanced stage, resulting in a poor prognosis and ranking it the fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Due to their high genomic correlation with humans, mice are ideal in vivo models for investigating GC-related pathogenesis and therapeutic interventions. This review provides an overview of different GC models, including genetically engineered, transplantation-based models, and chemically or biologically induced models, and discusses the recent advancements for each type, highlighting their unique contributions to the field. In addition, it summarizes the strengths, limitations, and typical applications of these models and offers a critical assessment of their applicability in research while acknowledging their current limitations in fully mirroring human GC progression. Furthermore, we analyze how each model accurately recapitulates the complexities of human GC and evaluate their potential for clinical translation. This review provides a reference for model selection in future GC research.