TRANSPLANTABLE ACINAR CELL-CARCINOMA OF THE RAT PANCREAS - MORPHOLOGIC AND BIOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION

  • 1 January 1979
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 94  (2) , 333-+
Abstract
An acinar cell carcinoma of the pancreas, which developed in a F-344 rat after long-term nafenopin administration, was serially transplanted into inbred weanling rats by s.c. and i.p. routes. The transplantability rate was 95% or more by both routes. The tumor implants became palpable in 20-30 days after s.c. transplantation, increasing in size rapidly thereafter during the next 25-30 days. In i.p. recipients the abdomen was markedly distended within 1 mo. No metastases were observed in this series of transplantations. Amylase and lipase levels in serum and tumor homogenates increased with tumor size. Morphologically, only a few cells contained zymogen granules immediately after the appearance of a palpable tumor. At later intervals, these granules were observed in many tumor cells. After the surgical removal of tumors 72 h, the serum amylase and lipase levels returned to control values. This transplantable pancreatic acinar cell carcinoma can be dissociated into functionally viable single cells by a simplified enzyme digestion and divalent cation chelation procedure. Light microscopic autoradiography indicated that .apprx. 20% of these isolated cells incorporate 3H-thymidine in vitro into nuclear DNA.