Preclinical cancer models for physical activity

The experiments were performed in female athymic NCr nu/nu (age 7–10 weeks; Taconic Biosciences, NY), female NMRI nu/nu mice (age 30 weeks; Janvier Labs, France), male C3H mice (age 16 weeks; Janvier Labs) and male and female CDF1 mice (age 16 weeks and 24 weeks respectively; Janvier Labs). All mice were maintained in a pathogen-free facility and provided with water and food ad libitum. The mice strains used in the experiments are frequently used in oncology research. Specifically, athymic nude mice and CDF1 females represent models for breast cancer research [21 (link),22 (link)] and both CDF1 male and C3H male mice are used in pre-clinical colon cancer research [23 (link)]. Epidemiological data has shown that the risk of developing several cancers including both breast cancer and colorectal carcinoma risk can be reduced by physical activity [24 (link)].