[Chemosensitivity test for bladder cancer in a nude-mice experimental system].

The in vivo chemosensitivity test for bladder cancer, using the human bladder cancer xenografts (BT-8 and BT-11 strains) in nude mice (BALB/c) and the BBN-BT-1 bladder cancer strain in BALB/c hetero-mouse which was induced by peroral long-period administration of N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl) nitrosamine and transplantable into the subcutaneous of mouse, were examined especially in respect to the difference of chemosensitivity between young and old straining and the prospective propriety for clinical application. The subrenal capsule assay (SRC), was also compared with subcutaneous transplantation. Cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (II) and 5-FU were effective for all three strains and adriamycin and cyclophosphamide were effective for the BT-8 and BT-11 strains. Bleomycin, peplomycin and vinca alkaloids were more effective for the BT-11 strain than the BT-8 strain. The chemosensitivity of several anti-cancer drugs for the young BT-8 and BT-11 strains was almost equal to that of the old. A 68-year-old male with bladder cancer metastasized to lung and lymph nodes, whose primary tumor was transplanted to mice and established as the BT-11 strain in 1980, was treated with the VPM-CisCF combination chemotherapy which was evaluated as an effective therapy for this strain experimentally, and responded well to this therapy. As in this case, the results of nude mice experiments are valuable in clinical application. The chemosensitivity test in vivo for individual primary tumors should be done by SRC, and in SRC nude mice should be used instead of conventional mice until immunoreactive rejection can be prevented.