The lack of correlation between experimental metastatic potential and platelet aggregating activity of B16 melanoma clones viewed in relation to tumor cell heterogeneity.

Two widely used B16 melanoma cell lines of low and high lung colonizing potential (B16-F1 and B16-F10) were compared in their ability to induce platelet aggregation. The results of these experiments showed a reproducible difference in platelet aggregating activity of these two cell lines which directly correlated with their lung colonizing potentials. However, when clones were derived from these heterogeneous cell lines and tested for experimental metastatic potential, platelet aggregating ability and Met-72 expression, no correlation could be attached to the platelet aggregating activity of the clones. Results of these experiments provide direct evidence that platelet aggregation is not an accurate index of experimental metastatic potential of tumor cell clones, nor is it an essential trait of all metastatic cells. The ability of tumor cells to induce platelet aggregation is examined and discussed in the context of cellular heterogeneity.