A new hamster fibrosarcoma model for in vitro/in vivo evaluation of cancer chemotherapeutic agents.

A hamster fetal cell clone has been developed for in vitro chemotherapeutic studies as well as in an in vivo fibrosarcoma model system. Highly reproducible quantitative in vitro chemotherapeutic data can be obtained with this cell line within 5 days, and as few as 10(2) cells produce rapidly growing fibrosarcomas when injected subcutaneously into adult hamsters. We found using these cells in vitro that 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine (ara-C) can antagonize the effect of 5-azacytidine (aza-C) if given simultaneously or if aza-C treatment is preceded by a 2-hr exposure to ara-c. Using the same cell line as in vivo model for chemotherapy it was also shown that ara-C and cyclocytidine significantly inhibited tumor growth. This hamster cell line may be quite useful as an in vitro/in vivo model system for the study of cancer chemotherapeutic agents.