A human carcinoma model in athymic rats reflecting solid and disseminated colorectal metastases.

We studied the metastatic properties of human tumor cells and tumor cell dissemination in a xenograft tumor model for human colorectal carcinoma in athymic rats which shows a reproducible pattern of metastases similar to the clinical situation. Such a model is also attractive for evaluating several therapeutic approaches. The tumor cell lines HT-29 and WiDr which are derived from the same colorectal tumor and exhibit a similar tumorigenic potential after subcutaneous injection were injected into the portal venous system of 4-week-old male nude rats. After injection of WiDr cells no liver metastases were observed; however, 50% of the rats developed liver metastases 4-12 weeks after injection of HT-29. Immunostaining of the liver cryosections at different times after injection revealed a total disappearance of WiDr cells within the first 12 h. A subpopulation of HT-29 (HT29-b) with increased metastatic activity was isolated by double selection and recultivation of cells from induced liver metastases. After a 6- to 12-week period rats injected with HT-29b showed a pattern of metastases with additional lung metastases and in some cases peritoneal carcinosis. In addition to immunohistochemistry cytokeratin 20 reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction was confirmed to be a sensitive and specific tool for the detection of disseminated tumor cells in different compartments.