FURTHER CHARACTERIZATION OF A CLINICALLY RELEVANT MODEL OF MELANOMA METASTASIS AND AN EFFECTIVE VACCINE

A major problem in evaluating the effectiveness of tumor cell vaccinat ion and other biological therapies is the variability of experimental models. In this study we have further developed and characterized a mo del for metastatic melanoma that approximates the major clinical stage s of metastatic dissemination: stage I - growth of the primary (local) tumor, stage II - dissemination to regional lymph nodes, and stage II I - metastasis to distant organs (lungs). C57BL/6 mice were challenged subcutaneously with B16 F10 murine melanoma cells in the midtail, and within 3 weeks 100% of the mice had local tumors growing in their tai ls. By 5-7 weeks after challenge, most of the mice had developed metas tases to the inguinal lymph nodes and subsequently had metastatic colo nies in the lungs and in the bone marrow. Preimmunization of mice with a formalinized extracellular antigen vaccine, derived from B16 F10 me lanoma cells, provided partial inhibition of the growth of the primary melanoma tumors, as well as reducing the number of metastases to the regional (inguinal) lymph nodes and lungs along with concomitantly inc reasing survival time. This model for melanoma metastasis provides a r easonable and reproducible test system for the study of anti-melanoma immunity and the different cellular and humoral mechanisms involved.