Growth of human colonic adenocarcinoma and development of serum CEA in athymic mice. I: strict correlation of tumour size and mass with serum CEA concentration during logarithmic growth

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Abstract
The secretion of CEA [carcinoembryonic antigen] into the blood of athymic mice was studied with 4 sublines of human colonic adenocarcinoma cell lines, HT 29 and SLu. Growth curves based on tumor volume (caliper measurements) or tumor mass (weight) correlated with a concomitant increase of serum CEA during the log growth phase, but showed a marked dissociation when the growth rate slowed down. In the log growth phase doubling times between 2 and 6 days were calculated and .apprx. 6-7 doubling times passed until the shift in the growth rate was observed, independently of the sublines transplanted. Constant increases of CEA between 0.03 and 0.45 .mu.g/1 serum per mm3 increase of tumor volume, depending on the sublines, were recorded during the log growth phase. Sublines releasing high amounts of CEA in vitro (cell culture) retained this characteristic in vivo. Correlation between tumor volume and tumor mass or serum CEA showed correlation coefficients of 0.820-0.977 during the log growth phase.