Growth characteristics of human leukemic B-cell, T-cell, and null-cell lines serially transplanted in hamsters.

Human leukemic B-cell (BALL-1), T-cell (TALL-1), and null-cell (NALL-1) lines were established from three patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Intraperitoneal transplantation of these ALL cell lines into immunosuppressed newborn hamsters resulted in the development of invasive tumors in all recipients, except 4 of 10 implanted with NALL-1 line. BALL-1 and TALL-1 lines were serially transplanted for 10 and 9 passages, respectively. In addition to a common in vivo feature of mesenteric and retroperitoneal tumors, BALL-1 line was characterized by infiltration of the skin, massive ascites, and bone marrow invasion. TALL-1 cells infiltrated various organs including the lymph nodes, liver, bone marrow, central nervous system, eyes, etc. NALL-1 line grew slowly, producing the least number of tumors. Leukemic cells were detected in the blood of 24 of 25 hamsters bearing BALL-1 and in the blood of 18 of 24 hamsters bearing TALL-1. Thus, these three ALL cell lines were found to exhibit a characteristic biological behavior in hamsters.