Liver metastases--an experimental study.

The effect of the Walker 256 rat carcinoma, growing at a site remote from the liver, on liver glycogen synthesis has been determined. Although the mechanism has not been defined it has been shown that the deposition of liver glycogen in response to a glucose load is inhibited in tumour bearing rats. It has been further demonstrated that, by comparison with the normal liver, the liver depleted of glycogen is more susceptible to the development of metases from circulating cancer cells.