3.4.1. Rat Models

Rat is one of the models for PCa research that was first established in the year 1937 by Moore and Melchionna after injecting the white rat prostate with benzpyrene. Following treatment, the columnar prostate epithelium underwent squamous metaplasia and also led to the induction of cancer in both the healthy and atrophic prostates [199]. These tumors spontaneously developed from a dorsal prostatic adenocarcinoma in an inbred Copenhagen rat and then were transplanted into a syngenic Copenhagen × Fischer F1 hybrid rat. These rat prostate tumors are well differentiated and slow growing [200]. The albino Lobund–Wistar (LW) rat model was first described by Pollard [201]. The LW rat developed spontaneous tumors at a mean age of 26 months. Moreover, a combination of N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) and testosterone treatments induced the development of prostate adenocarcinoma in the LW rat at a mean time of 10.5 months. The cancer of the LW rat resembles the human PCa in several aspects, including spontaneous development and progression to androgen independence and metastasis [201]. However, a major limitation of the rat models is that they have a long latency period for tumor development (2–3 years), have low tumor incidence, and lack spontaneous metastases.
