Detection of disseminated tumor cells in nude mice with human gastric cancer.
Disseminated tumor cells (DTC) are a potential contributor to relapse of cancer. In the present study we developed a model for induction of disseminated tumor cells in nude mice, which can aid in the search for therapeutic approaches as well as improve our understanding of metastasizing gastric cancer. To detect DTC in blood and bone marrow we established a modified animal model of orthotopic transplantation. Two groups of nude mice were used for xenotransplantation of gastric cancer specimens. In group I tumor specimens originating from a gastric adenocarcinoma cell line were transplanted onto the stomach; in group II they were transplanted subcutaneously into both axillaries. Tumor growth, metastases and presence of DTC were compared in both groups. For detection of DTC a nested reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for human cytokeratin (CK)-20 was performed on blood and bone marrow of all mice. Tumor growth occurred in both groups (9/10 animals in group I, 10/10 in group II) within 14 weeks. Only animals in group I developed local invasive tumor growth, stenosis of the stomach and distant metastases. Tumors in animals of group II grew with local displacement only and developed no metastases. There were no signals of CK-20 detected in the blood in both groups. In group I, 5 of 9 animals had positive signals of human CK-20 in their bone marrow as a sign of DTC. In group II no DTC were detected in bone marrow. We conclude that orthotopic transplantation is a prerequisite for the development of DTC and metastasizing tumor growth in this modified gastric cancer model.
Department of Surgery, University Hospital, University of Würzburg, Germany. illert_b@chirurgie.uni-wuerzburg.de
Bertram
B
Illert
Christoph
C
Otto
Arnulf
A
Thiede
Wolfgang
W
Timmermann
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007381:Intermediate Filament Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D053554:Keratin-20; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008819:Mice, Nude; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D012008:Recurrence; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous / Q000473:pathology*
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D007381:Intermediate Filament Proteins; C507499:KRT20 protein, human; D053554:Keratin-20; C489975:Krt20 protein, mouse