Direct relationship between hormone sensitivity level and growth pattern. Evidence in 18 gastrointestinal neoplastic cell lines.
OBJECTIVE
We investigated whether a relationship exists in terms of growth pattern and hormone sensitivity in 18 gastrointestinal neoplastic cell lines. Hormones studied included gastrin, epidermal growth factor, estradiol and luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone.


METHODS
The growth patterns were assessed by means of computer-assisted microscope analysis of Feulgen-stained nuclei combined with the mathematical Delaunay triangulation and Voronoi paving techniques. This methodology enabled four variables characterizing the cell colony patterns to be computed. The information contributed by these variables was analyzed by means of discriminant analysis and the decision tree technique.


RESULTS
Each phenotype (sensitivity level) exhibited distinct growth pattern (or cell colony) characteristics in the case of each hormone and/or growth factor under study. Furthermore, the sensitivity of the gastrointestinal cell lines to a given hormone (or growth factor) appeared to be peculiar to the hormone (or growth factor).


CONCLUSIONS
A direct relationship seems to exist between growth pattern and hormone sensitivity levels in gastrointestinal cancers, particularly colorectal.
Kiss
R
R
Laboratoire d'Histologie, Faculté de Médecine, Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
Decaestecker
C
C
Camby
I
I
Darro
F
F
Salmon
I
I
Danguy
A
A
Pasteels
J L
JL
Yeaton
P
P
D002452:Cell Count; D002455:Cell Division; D003663:Decision Trees; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D004958:Estradiol / Q000378:metabolism*; D005755:Gastrins / Q000378:metabolism*; D007987:Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007414:Intestinal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
D005755:Gastrins; D007987:Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone; D004958:Estradiol; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor