Eicosatrienoic acid omega9 in human hepatoma transplanted into athymic nude mice.

Fatty acid compositions of human hepatoma transplanted successively into athymic nude mice were analysed. Eicosatrienoic acid omega9, which occurred as an unusual positional isomer of eicosatrienoic acid in the original hepatoma tissues, was preserved in these hepatoma tissues over three transplant generations, while the content of linoleic acid in liver was higher in nude mice than in humans. It appears, therefore, that the synthesis of eicosatrienoic acid omega9 is one of the essential metabolic aberrations of human hepatoma, quite independent of nutritional condition.