Growth self-incitement in murine melanoma B16: a phenomenological model.

The growing murine melanoma B16 secretes increasing quantities of a substance or substances immunologically cross-reactive with insulin. The elevated concentrations of these substances in blood are accompanied by a decrease in blood glucose concentration and release of growth hormone, which is followed by increased tumor growth. By use of a phenomenological model based on these data, we show that B16 incites its own growth by positive feedback.