1970 Volume 61 Issue 1 Pages 7-16
51Cr-labeled cells of a transplantable lung carcinoma of rat and Yoshida ascites sarcoma cells were injected into the left ventricle of rat heart, to trace their distribution in the organs immediately after entering the blood stream.
1) The relationship between distribution pattern of 51Cr-labeled tumor cells immediately after intracardiac injection and patterns of organ metastasis some days after inoculation of non-labeled tumor cells was examined. Initial distribution rates of the tumor cells were higher in organs with a high incidence of metastasis than in organs with rare metastasis. The specificity of hematogenous organ metastasis of both transplantable lung carcinoma and Yoshida ascites sarcoma cells was reflected by the organ distribution of 51Cr-labeled cells.
2) Measurement of the cells by radioactivity indicated that stay of the cells in the organs was transient and that the ability of tumor cells to pass through organs differed according to the strain of tumor. Such a difference may also influence the organ selectivity of hematogenous metastasis.
3) As time elapsed, tumor cells in the circulation lost their viability, and cellular debris accumulated in the liver and spleen. It was thought that tumor cells which failed to lodge in some organs degenerated in a relatively short time.
