Ascites tumors in CBA mice. Characterization of two new tumors, a carcinoma and a sarcoma in solid and ascites form, with regard to cell surface properties and transplantability.

Two ascites tumors in syngeneic CBA mice are described, viz., MCB 21-AA and MCB 31-AA, with their solid progenitors: A sarcoma (MCB 21-SS) and a squamous cell carcinoma (MCB 31-SC), induced by gastric feeding of 20-methylcholanthrene. The ascites tumor cells have certain characteristics in common, which they do not share with either cells from the solid tumors or even with cells from solid ascites tumors (-21-AS and -31-AS=ascites tumor transplanted s.c.). Presumably some of these differences, for instance, in PAS stainability, electrophoretic mobility and lectin agglutinability, are due to enzyme treatment required to bring solid tumors into suspension. Between the two ascites tumors there are certain differences in cell size, aggregability, and growth rate. They are similar, however, in requiring large cell doses for transplantation in syngeneic animals, which is also true for the solid (SS and SC) tumors. MCB 21 and -AA even required fewer cells for transplantation in allogeneic A mice than in syngeneic CBA mice. MCB 31-AA is also allotransplantable. The pattern of spread, after i.v. cell injection, is almost exclusively to the lungs for all tumor lines.