Ae. Bogden et al., PROLIFERATIVE RESPONSE OF HUMAN AND ANIMAL TUMORS TO SURGICAL WOUNDING OF NORMAL-TISSUES - ONSET, DURATION AND INHIBITION, British Journal of Cancer, 75(7), 1997, pp. 1021-1027
Acceleration of secondary tumour growth and metastases following excis
ion of a primary tumour has been attributed to the consequent removal
of primary tumour-generated inhibitory factors. However, our studies h
ave shown that surgical wounding of normal tissues significantly stimu
lated the growth of malignant tissues without the concomitant presence
or excision of a tumour mass. A humoral stimulating component was ind
icated by the proliferative response of rumours and metastases distant
from the surgical wound. All 16 human and murine tumours, of nine dif
ferent histologies, showed a measurable acceleration of growth when im
planted in surgically treated animals, suggesting that the ability of
malignant tissue to respond to surgical wounding of normal tissue was
not histologically or species specific. The proliferative surge of mal
ignant tissues was detectable soon after wounding and had a duration o
f 2-3 days. The surgical wound as the source of the tumour-stimulating
factor(s) was affirmed by the significant inhibition of tumour prolif
erative responses when a somatostatin analogue was applied topically t
o the surgical wound within 1 h of wounding, and/or during the critica
l tumour-stimulatory period of 1-2 days after wounding. A potential th
erapeutic window for reducing a risk factor that may be inadvertently
imposed upon every surgical/oncology patient is indicated.