On October 4-5, 2018 the Children’s Tumor Foundation hosted the second Neurofibromatosis Animal Model Workshop in Palm Springs, California. More than 20 animal models were presented at the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP) learning center. Pathology slices of murine lesions were carefully evaluated by a group of 10 pathologists to create a single, universal pathological classification. Since our research community has developed a number of models that recapitulate many aspects of NF1, NF2, and schwannomatosis, it was necessary to classify those models based on their histopathological features by expert pathologists. This was important for the validation of the models, for their analysis and comparison with other models, and for their future effective use in preclinical treatment trials.
The first NF animal model workshop was held by the National Neurofibromatosis Foundation in Boston in 2003, and since then many NF models have been created with the aid of new technology. Also for the first time, two pig models of NF1 (created with funding from CTF’s Synodos NF1 program) were reviewed.
