Animal Models of Gynecological Cancers

Gynecological cancers develop in the reproductive organs of a woman. The common gynecological cancers are cervical, ovarian, uterine, vaginal, and vulvar cancers. Most of the gynecological cancers including the ovarian cancers undergo metastasis to distant organs, acquire resistance to cancer therapy, and relapse. There are no specific diagnostic biomarkers available to detect the early stages of gynecological cancers. The challenges to diagnose and treat gynecological cancers stem from the fact that these cancers are heterogeneous diseases and, therefore, need physiologically relevant animal model systems in order to develop strategies to discover targeted therapeutics. In this book chapter, the authors elaborate on mouse models that serve as helpful tools to understand the biology of gynecological cancers as well as the identification of biomarkers and novel therapeutics.