Evidence for characteristic vascular patterns in solid tumours: quantitative studies using corrosion casts

The vascular architecture of four different tumour cell lines (CaX, CaNT Sa S, HEC-1B) transplanted subcutaneously in mice was examined by means of mic rovascular corrosion casting in order to determine whether there is a chara cteristic vascular pattern for different tumour types and whether it differ s significantly from two normal tissues, muscle and gut. Three-dimensional reconstructed scanning electron microscope images were used for quantitativ e measurements. Vessel diameters, intervessel and interbranch distances sho wed large differences between tumour types, whereas the branching angles we re similar. In all tumours, the variability of the vessel diameters was sig nificantly higher than in normal tissue. The quantitative data provide stro ng evidence for a characteristic vascular network determined by the tumour cells themselves.