Effects of disseminative route on the liver- and lung-colonizing efficiencies of B16 melanoma and colon-26 carcinoma in mice

✍ Scribed by L. Weiss; P. M. Ward

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1989
• Tongue: French
• Weight: 443 KB
• Volume: 44
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0020-7136
• DOI: 10.1002/ijc.2910440628

✦ Synopsis

Tumor-colony formation in the liver and lungs of mice was assessed, after delivery of equal numbers of 616 melanoma or colon-26 carcinoma cells via the portal vein or the hepatic artery, and via the pulmonary artery or the bronchial artery. Significantly greater lung involvement occurred after delivery of both cell types via the bronchial artery than via the pulmonary artery. In the case of colon-26 cells, liver colonization via the hepatic artery was more efficient than via the portal vein. In the case of 616 cells, no route-dependent differences in liver colonization were detected. Our results indicate that during hematogenous metastasis, the vascular route taken by some cancer cells to the same target organ may considerably modify the efficiency with which they form metastases.

Attempts to account for patterns of metastatic involvement of different organs have focused on the 2 non-exclusive hypotheses related to cancer cell delivery (Ewing, 1928) and differential survival and growth . In this communication, we examine another factor, namely the route of delivery of cancer cells in the blood-stream.

In the present experiments, we have assessed tumor-colony formation in the lungs and liver of mice, after delivery of equal numbers of B16 melanoma and colon-26 carcinoma cells via the pulmonary or bronchial arteries, or via the portal vein or hepatic artery.