EFFECT OF TRAUMA ON IMPLANTATION OF METASTATIC TUMOR IN BONE IN MICE

We studied the influence of surgical trauma to the iliac bone on the i mplantation of I.V. injected tumor cells, which formed tumor in the su rgical wounds of 27/84 mice (32%). None of these mice or nonsurgical m ice developed tumor in the opposite or uninjured pelvic bone (P < 0.00 01). When different numbers (10(5) , 5 X 10(5), and 10 X 10(5)) of TA3 Ha cells were injected I.V. immediately after surgery, the frequency o f tumor formation showed an increase (respectively, 32%, 63%, 71%). As the interval between induction of trauma and tumor cell injection was increased from 0 to 15 days, the frequency of tumor formation decline d from 32% to 0%. These results suggest that the healing wound is a pr ivileged site for experimental metastasis, particularly in the early s tages. It is likely that the proteins in the blood clotting cascade ar e involved in local tumor implantation. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.