Reeling in the Zebrafish Cancer Models

Zebrafish are rapidly becoming a leading model organism for cancer research. The genetic pathways driving cancer are highly conserved between zebrafish and humans, and the ability to easily manipulate the zebrafish genome to rapidly generate transgenic animals makes zebrafish an excellent model organism. Transgenic zebrafish containing complex, patient-relevant genotypes have been used to model many cancer types. Here we present a comprehensive review of transgenic zebrafish cancer models as a resource to the field and highlight important areas of cancer biology that have yet to be studied in the fish. The ability to image cancer cells and niche biology in an endogenous tumor makes zebrafish an indispensable model organism in which we can further understand the mechanisms that drive tumorigenesis and screen for potential new cancer therapies.

Automated summary

Zebrafish are increasingly employed as a model organism for cancer research due to the conservation of genetic pathways with humans, and the ease of generating transgenic animals. Transgenic zebrafish models have been used to study various cancer types and provide insights into tumorigenesis mechanisms. The ability to image endogenous tumors in zebrafish makes them indispensable for cancer biology research and screening potential new therapies.