Chemotherapy of subcutaneous and intracranial human medulloblastoma xenografts in athymic nude mice.

The continuous human medulloblastoma cell line TE-671 was grown as s.c. and intracranial xenografts in athymic nude mice. Tumor-bearing animals were treated with chemotherapeutic agents at the 10% lethal dose; s.c. xenografts were sensitive to melphalan, 1-(2-chloroethyl)-3-(2,6-dioxo-1-piperidyl)-1-nitrosourea, and 5-azacytidine. No consistent response could be demonstrated to 9-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl-2-fluoroadenine 5'-monophosphate, and no response to methylglyoxal bis(guanyl hydrazone), N-trifluoroacetyl adriamycin-14-valerate, or to 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine was observed. Melphalan produced a significant (P = less than or equal to 0.007) increase in the median survival of mice bearing intracranial xenografts, whereas no response was seen to 1-(2-chloroethyl)-3-(2,6-dioxo-1-piperidyl)-1-nitrosourea or 5-azacytidine. This model will allow analysis of the chemotherapeutic profile of human medulloblastoma, and provides a means to differentiate cellular sensitivity and resistance from drug access to the intracranial site.