Cell viability studies on the exfoliated colonic cancer cell.

Suspensions of desquamated colonic cancer cells were obtained from patients with cancer of the large bowel by colonic exfoliative cytology and from resected specimens of colonic cancer by an exfoliative technique. In addition, a tumor suspension was obtained from the resected specimens. Cell viability studies were performed on these cell suspensions. Whereas 23 of the 25 tumour homogenate cell suspensions were shown to exclude trypan blue, none of the exfoliated colonic cancer cell suspensions had viable cells. This finding would cast some doubt on the hypothesis that suture line recurrence following large bowel cancer surgery is due to the implantation of cells desquamated from the surface of the growth.