Establishment and characteristics of a hamster lung adenocarcinoma in vivo and in vitro.

Several cell lines designated HLAC were derived from primary lung carcinomas induced in Syrian hamsters by polonium-210 or benzo[a]pyrene. Primary tumor nodules were initially transplanted into cheek pouches, and the tumors that grew were passed into tissue culture and into the cheek pouches of other hamsters for continued in vivo passage. By serial passage and cloning, cell lines were isolated with plating efficiencies of 20-50% in vitro and 10-25% when cultured directly from solid tumors. These cells formed adenocarcinomas in vivo. The radiosensitivities in vitro of HLAC-4 and HLAC-14 varied; observed D0 (the inverse of the slope of the exponential portion of the survival curve) values were 80 and 155 rads, respectively; n (the dose at which the exponential portion of the survival curve extrapolates to 100% survival) values were approximately 1.8. Survival curves obtained following in situ irradiation of 4- to 5-mm3 HLAC-4 tumors showed a D0 of 80 rads and an n of 7. Morphology and growth characteristics of two HLAC cell lines in vivo and in vitro were described.