Characterization of primary hepatocellular carcinomas and initial transplant generations.

Abstract

Transplantable rat hepatomas (THC) have been utilized in numerous experiments which were aimed at delineating crucial similarities or differences between normal and malignant tissues. These tumors demonstrate a broad diversity of relatively stable phenotypic patterns. The present study examined the relatedness of phenotypic pattern of several THC to the primary hepatomas from which they arose. Four modalities were examined: morphology, karyotype, plasma protein production, and α1-fetoprotein synthesis. These characteristics of THC bore a strong similarity to those of the primary hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the most striking result of transplantation was the presentation of a much more homogeneous phenotypic pattern in THC than was seen in the original primary hepatocellular carcinoma. A second finding of this study was the inverse relationship between karyotype and function. Thus, aneuploid, rapidly growing tumors demonstrated intense production of normal plasma proteins and α1-fetoprotein while near-diploid tumors demonstrated little or none.