Abstract
Direct transplantation of non-Hodgkin's malignant lymphoma into athymic nude mice was successfully achieved after whole-body irradiation (5 Gy). Twenty-seven per cent (6/22) of transplanted lymphomas were established as nude mouse lines. The successful lines were derived solely from the patients with diffuse lymphoma who showed advanced clinical stage, high LDH value, large mass and poor prognosis. The histological, immunophenotypic and chromosomal characteristics of the nude mouse lines were compared with those of the original lymphomas, and the proliferative characteristics of the lines were examined. The transplanted lymphomas substantially retained the characteristics of the original lymphomas, and could be useful in biological, oncological and therapeutic studies of human malignant lymphoma.