Comparison of metastatic properties of a variety of mouse, rat, and human cells in assays in nude mice and chick embryos.

We have previously developed an assay to measure experimental metastatic ability of cells following intravenous injection into chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) veins of naturally immune deficient chick embryos. Here we compare metastatic properties of different cell types (ras-transformed and control NIH 3T3, LTA, and 10T1/2; melanoma; and glioma) from several species (mouse, rat, human), using chick embryos and the more commonly-used immune deficient host, nude mice. We found a good correlation between the two assays. Both hosts have advantages and disadvantages in assessing metastatic properties. We conclude that the chick embryo assay is a useful alternative host for experimental metastasis studies. This assay correlates well with and is less costly than assays using nude mice.