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A new animal model for human colon cancer metastasis
Author(s) -
Bresalier Robert S.,
Raper Steven E.,
Hujanen Erkki S.,
Kim Young S.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.2910390514
Subject(s) - metastasis , pathology , basement membrane , colorectal cancer , lymphatic system , cancer , cancer cell , cancer research , medicine , pathogenesis , biology
An animal model for human colon cancer metastasis is described in which spontaneously metastasizing colonic tumors are formed after injection of human colon cancer cells into the cecal wall of young athymic nude mice. Lymphatic and vascular invasion were demonstrated histologically after injection of both well‐ and poorly‐differentiated cell lines, and metastases were found in a pattern similar to that of naturally occurring human colonic cancer. In contrast, little or no visceral organ involvement could be demonstrated after s.c. injection. Cells with increased liver‐metastasizing potential were obtained by serial selection in this system. These cells had an enhanced ability to penetrate a reconstituted basement membrane in the presence of partially purified liver extract when compared to lung or brain extracts in a modified Boyden chamber assay. These results demonstrate the ability of human epithelial tumor cells to metastasize reproducibly in an animal model system, which may be useful for studying many aspects of the pathogenesis of cancer metastasis. In addition, it is suggested that local invasion by colon cancer cells may be influenced in part by tissue‐specific factors.