Metastatic properties of the human prostatic cell line, PPC-1, in athymic nude mice.

Limitation in the number of human prostatic cell lines has created a gap in knowledge regarding the in-vivo progression of this common cancer. The recently isolated primary prostatic carcinoma cell line, PPC-1, has been shown to be tumorigenic in athymic nude mice. These cells are now shown to form metastases to secondary sites in 10 of 12 animals in this initial study. Metastases were localized to lung and lymph nodes, and the tumor histology closely resembled that of the undifferentiated, rapidly dividing primary tumors. This is the first report describing the metastatic properties of a primary prostatic cancer cell line. PPC-1 cells are therefore likely to represent a good model system for the study of human prostate cancer progression.