Induction of cells with acinar cell phenotype including presence of intracellular amylase. Treatment with 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate in a neoplastic human salivary intercalated duct cell line grown in athymic nude mice.

The adenocarcinoma produced by transplantation into nude mice of a neoplastic human salivary intercalated duct cell line was treated with 0.1 ml of minimal essential medium (MEM) containing 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA) at a final concentration of 10(-7) mol/l daily for 28 days and examined morphologically and immunohistochemically. The TPA treatment resulted in an enhancement of tumor growth. In addition, tumor cells containing secretory granules positively reactive to antiamylase serum were observed in the treated tumors, but not in untreated controls. These findings lead us to suggest that neoplastic intercalated duct cells treated with TPA can be induced to differentiate into acinar cells in heterotransplanted athymic nude mice.