An animal model for colon cancer metastases to the lung and establishment of metastatic cancer cell line
Lin, J.C.; Cheng, J.Y.; Meng, C.L.
Journal of the Formosan Medical Association 91(Suppl 1): S34-S38
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0929-6646 PMID: 1354710 Document Number: 401307
Death, in most colon cancer patients, is not caused by their primary tumors. Instead, metastasis is the major cause of morbidity and death. There are few appropriate animal models to investigate the complexity of the metastatic process. Therefore, the pathogenesis of the metastasis process is not clearly understood. We injected SW480 cells into the cecal wall of athymic nude mice to develop an animal model for colon cancer metastasis and to produce a metastasizing tumor. After metastatic foci formed in the murine lung, we established a metastatic cancer cell line, named CC-ML1, by in vitro primary culture. The characteristics of CC-ML1 were (1) a shorter doubling time; (2) a slightly higher metastatic rate and number of colonies; and (3) less morphological variation than those of SW480. Our research suggests that a higher metastatic potential may be found in CC-ML1 than in SW480 after the advanced cycles of the metastatic process. Thus, the primary animal model in this study may be useful in future studies of cells with a high metastatic potential in the pathogenesis of colon cancer metastases.