Effect of Host-Organ Environment on the in vivo and in vitro Behavior of a Murine Mammary Adenocarcinoma

Abstract

We investigated the role that organ environment may play in determining the homing of disseminated cells from a murine mammary adenocarcinoma moderately metastatic to lung (M3). Conditioned medium (CM) from normal lung was able to enhance both local and metastatic growth. It increased the number of lung colonies when inoculated together with tumor cells via intravenous or separately via intraperitoneal route. Several in vitro studies were performed in order to elucidate possible mechanisms. It was shown that lung CM stimulated the in vitro growth and the migration of M3 cells. Normal kidney and liver CM lacked all these capacities.