Induction of transformation of human respiratory epithelium in vitro. Preliminary investigation.

Malignancy is the result of multistep transformational changes of normal somatic cells. In the case of respiratory epithelial malignancies this process lasts for several years. Many methods have been explored to mimic this process in an extracorporal model. In the present investigation we combined several of these methods. Organ cultures were prepared from tracheal specimens and were then consecutively treated with human papilloma virus, benzo(a)pyrene, methylnitronitrosoguanine and tetradecanoyl phorbol acetate. Identical numbers of organ cultures from the same specimen were maintained without exposure to carcinogens. After 6 weeks these cultures were further cultivated either in mixed cultures (MC) with autologous isotopic fibroblasts or under the kidney capsule of the nude mouse (SRC). These two methods were combined after a few months: MC cells were transplanted under the SRC or SRC transplants were explanted in cell culture. This long-term selection procedure revealed striking differences between control and treated organ cultures. Three-dimensional structures containing epithelial cells were isolated from both organ cultures but survived more than 3 months only from treated cultures. Only MC from treated organ cultures produced nodules under SRC. The incidence and morphology of the nodules in the SRC were directly related to carcinogen treatment, with more nodules with pronounced epithelial cell atypia obtained from treated organ cultures. MC and SRC showed the importance of a time factor for selecting cells with changed growth behavior--increased time increased the incidence of such cells.