Viral neoplastic transformation of hamster prostate tissue in vitro.

Cultures of hamster prostatic tissues infected with simian virus 40 undergo transformation in vitro, and the transformed cells produce malignant tumors when injected into homologous hosts. Tartrate-inhibited acid phosphastase is found in the cultures of transformed cells and in the tumors they produce. Tartrate-inhibited acid phosphatase activity is elevated in the serum of tumor-bearing animals.