Overexpression of c-erbB-2 and c-myc but not c-ras, in canine melanoma cell lines, is associated with metastatic potential in nude mice.

Overexpression of the proto-oncogenes c-erbB-2, c-myc, and c-ras have been associated with neoplastic transformation in a variety of tumours. We investigated expression of these oncogenes in 5 canine melanoma cell lines and 6 clonal derivatives of 1 of the cell lines, CML-6M, to determine what impact overexpression had on tumour cell growth and metastatic potential. All 11 cell lines were tumourigenic at subcutaneous inoculation sites in nude mice, but spontaneous metastasis to lung was a characteristic of only the CML-6M cell line and 3 of 6 clonal derivatives of CML-6M. Investigation of oncogene overexpression revealed no obvious pattern of expression among the 5 tumour-derived cell lines whereas overexpression of c-erbB-2 and c-myc was consistently found in the 3 clonal cell lines characterized by high metastatic potential, and in primary and metastatic mouse xenografts induced by these lines. This data suggests involvement of overexpression of these genes in development of canine melanoma and associates their overexpression with metastatic potential in nude mice.