No sane person likes to see animals get hurt. We are adamant about keeping the use of mice for the research in our lab to an absolute minimum, and are extremely conscious about the situation we put the animals in when we burden them with a tumor. The animals are monitored closely for changes in their behavior and any discomfort they might express, and make sure the mice are housed in a way that fits with the playful and social nature of these animals. If we observe signs of pain, or weight loss, mice are anesthetized and euthanized.

Despite claims made by certain groups, no appropriate substitutes currently exist for the work involving mice. We are busy developing in vitro systems that will limit the number of mice needed to establish patient-derived models, but for most of our functional experiments to test the efficacy of novel anti-cancer drugs these cannot replace mice. Also, the minor suffering  (as far as we can tell) of the animals in our experiments pales in comparison to what patients with pancreatic cancer go through. It is our opinion that the goal justifies the means. 

Please contact us if you have any questions about our animal work.

All our animal work complies with national and European legislation.