Development of intrapancreatic transplantable model of pancreatic duct adenocarcinoma in Syrian golden hamsters.

Intrapancreatic and subcutaneous (SC) inoculation of cultured pancreatic cancer cells, derived from an induced primary pancreatic cancer in a Syrian hamster, resulted in tumor take in all recipient hamsters. The intrapancreatic allografts grew rapidly, were invasive, and metastasized into the lymph nodes and liver in 2 of 9 cases. In comparison, SC tumors grew relatively slower and formed a large encapsulated mass without invasion and metastases. Histologically, tumors of both sites showed fairly well-differentiated adenocarcinomas of ductal/ductular type resembling the induced primary cancer. Similar to the primary induced pancreatic cancers, tumor cells of both allografts expressed blood-group-related antigens, including A, B, H, Le(b), Le(y), Le(x), and tumor-associated antigen TAG-72. The tumor cells did not express Le(a), CA 19-9, 17-1A, or DU-PAN-2. The expression of these antigens was retained in the metastases and presented the same patterns of reactivity as the allografts. Thus intrapancreatic transplantation provides a rapid model for production of pancreatic cancer with morphologic similarities to human pancreatic cancer.