A HEPATIC INVASIVE HUMAN COLORECTAL XENOGRAFT MODEL

A hepatic invasive human colorectal xenograft model was derived in nud e mice by selection through the liver of the parental cell tine, C170. Following intraperitoneal injection, tumours selectively grew on the liver in > 80% of the animals within 15-20 days. The liver-invading xe nograft line, renamed C170HM2, had a significantly greater expression of the Lewis(X) antigen compared to C170 (mean linear fluorescence per cell > 1000 compared with 500 for C170, P < 0.02). C170HM2 had signif icantly elevated proliferation (when compared with C170) in the presen ce of epidermal (P < 0.001) and basic fibroblast growth factor (P < 0. 001). C170HM2 also mitogenically responded to type I collagen (derived from rat tails), unlike C170. C170HM2 tumours when invading the liver expressed both interstitial collagenase and gelatinase activity at th e invading edge.