Transplantable colon tumors as chemotherapy screening models.

A series of transplantable murine colon tumors have been developed from primary tumors induced by dimethylhydrazine. They are moderately- to well-differentiated adenocarcinomas which retain their histologic appearance and growth characteristics through successive transplant generations. The sensitivity of two tumor lines to 11 standard drugs is reported and some correlation shown with the sensitivity of human colorectal tumors to the same drugs. Therapeutic indices are low and each tumor has an individual pattern of sensitivity. The models have potential as secondary drug screening systems and for investigation of factors affecting drug sensitivity.