INTERSTITIAL FLUID PRESSURE IN HUMAN-MELANOMA XENOGRAFTS - RELATIONSHIP TO FRACTIONAL TUMOR WATER-CONTENT, TUMOR SIZE, AND TUMOR VOLUME-DOUBLING TIME

The interstitial fluid pressure (IFP) has been shown to be elevated in malignant tissue, but the possibility that IFP might be related to ot her pathophysiological parameters of the tissue has not been fully exp lored. The purpose of the study here reported was to measure the IFP i n human melanoma xenografts and to search for possible correlations be tween tumor IFP and fractional tumor water content, tumor wet weight, or tumor volume-doubling time. Tumors of four melanoma lines (A-07, D- 12, R-18, U-25), grown orthotopically in BALB/c-nu/nu mice, were inclu ded in the study. Tumor IFP, measured by using the wick-in-needle tech nique, ranged from 2 to 10 mm Hg (D-12), from 2 to 15 mm Hg (A-07 and U-25), and from 2 to 30 mn Hg (R-18). Statistically significant correl ations between tumor IFP on the one hand and fractional tumor water co ntent, tumor wet weight, or tumor volume-doubling time on the other we re not found, whether the tumor lines were analyzed individually or to gether. These observations suggest that simple general relationships b etween the IFP and the other pathophysiological parameters measured he re, might not exist in tumors.