Cell biologic properties in explant culture and heterotransplantation of malignant uterine cervical cells.

The cell of origin of uterine cervical cancer was studied by using culture, enzyme histochemistry and heterotransplantation. Twenty-seven epidermoid carcinomas (8 large cell keratinizing squamous, 12 large cell nonkeratinizing squamous and 7 small cell nonkeratinizing squamous) and 2 adenocarcinomas of the uterine cervix were placed in culture. An outgrowth of carcinoma cells in vitro was observed in 22 of 29 cases: 6 keratinizing, 8 large cell nonkeratinizing and 6 small cell nonkeratinizing carcinomas and 2 adenocarcinomas. The squamous carcinomas showed a squamous-cell outgrowth pattern, except for one large cell nonkeratinizing and three small cell nonkeratinizing carcinomas that showed a glandular-cell outgrowth pattern. One of three keratinizing carcinomas was transplantable into the subcutis of BALB/c nude mice, producing keratinizing tumors; three of six large cell and one of three small cell nonkeratinizing carcinomas reproduced themselves, while the other two small cell carcinomas produced poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas in mice. The transplanted adenocarcinoma produced a well-differentiated adenocarcinoma resembling the original tumor. Small cell carcinomas and adenocarcinomas contained a heat-stable, L-phenylalanine-sensitive alkaline phosphatase. These results suggest that many uterine cervical cancers originate from the reserve cell.