Abstract
Tumour metastasis in BCG-pretreated mice was studied using a methylcholanthrene-induced fibrosarcoma in C3H/He mice. When tumour cells were injected into the BCG-primed site, distant metastasis occurred in the lungs and the popliteal lymph node, through this tumour did not metastasize in normal mice. Such metastases were increased in proportion to the number of tumour cells injected into the BCG-primed site, and developed soon after tumour challenge. Concomitant immunity developed well in the mice bearing such metastases, but did not inhibit metastatic growth. Experiments using 125I-labelled SRBC or tumour cells revealed that such cells egressed rapidly from the BCG-primed site. When the tumour was inoculated into the contralateral foot to the BCG-primed site, the incidence and the number of metastases was reduced. Furthermore, BCG infection induced an increase of platelet count. I.v. injection of this tumour induced marked thrombocytopenia in normal mice. Administration of pentoxifylline, a methylxanthine derivative before tumour challenge reduced such metastases. These findings suggest that the changes in peripheral blood, such as increased platelet count and increased release of tumour cells from the injection site, facilitated distant metastasis in BCG-pretreated mice.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 24 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $10.79 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ishibashi, T., Yamada, H., Harada, S. et al. Distant metastasis facilitated by BCG: spread of tumour cells injected in the BCG-primed site. Br J Cancer 41, 553–561 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1980.97
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1980.97
This article is cited by
-
Growth of metastases of the mouse adenocarcinoma EO 771: an allometric relationship between growth of the primary tumors and their metastases
Clinical & Experimental Metastasis (1990)
-
Role of the regional lymph node in cancer metastasis
CANCER AND METASTASIS REVIEW (1986)
-
Influence of implantation site on formation of metastases
CANCER AND METASTASIS REVIEW (1983)