Influence of the sympathetic nervous system on the growth of neuroblastoma in vivo and in vitro.

The sympathetic nervous system exerts a trophic-mitogenic influence on C-1300 mouse neuroblastoma. We now report that sympathetic axotomy suppresses growth of the S-20 clonal line of neuroblastoma but does not influence the growth in vivo of two other clonal lines, NIE-115 and C-46. Sympathetic ganglia-conditioned medium significantly increases proliferation of S-20 cells in vitro. Growth of NIE-115 and C-46 clonal neuroblastoma lines is not influenced by sympathetic ganglia-conditioned medium. We postulate that the sympathetic nervous system secretes a mitogenic-trophic factor that favors growth of C-1300 neuroblastoma in vivo. Sensitivity to this factor varies between neuroblastoma clonal lines.