Lewis lung carcinoma and two transplantable sarcomas in mice as experimental therapy models: biological characteristics and cell population kinetics.

The biological characteristics of three transplantable tumours: two sarcomas (SaL, MCA) and Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) have been studied. We investigated histology, DNA ploidy and cell kinetics parameters of the tumours. All examined tumours were aneuploid and rapidly proliferating, with the hyperdiploid fraction greater than 60%. The SaL tumour was found to have the lowest mean aneuploid bromodeoxyuridine labelling index (LI) equal to 21%, while the highest LI of 35.8% was measured for the LLC tumour. The mean S-phase time was short, lasting 8.5 - 10.9 hrs. The potential doubling time (T(pot)) assessed by BrdUrd staining and flow cytometry were as follows: 37.1 hours for SaL, 22.7 hours for MCA and 21.4 hours for LLC tumour. The MCA had the shortest volume doubling time (T(d)) equal to 1.7 days and the longest one, equal to 4.7 days, was found for the LLC. The lowest cell loss was found in the MCA tumour (44%), while the highest in the LLC tumour (81%). As all the examined tumours proliferate rapidly, there is a capacity for accelerated repopulation and therefore the tumours seem to be good models for experimental radiotherapy.