Preliminary report: growth of Hodgkin's lymphoma derived cells in immune compromised mice

Until now there has been no satisfactory animal host for the in vivo growth of Hodgkin lymphoma cells. With the exception of one mutant subline (L540Cy) none of the other Hodgkin derived cell lines nor Hodgkin's disease (HD) derived lymphatic tissue could be propagated in suitable animal systems such as the T-cell deficient nude mouse. Recently, the severe combined immunodeficient (SCID-) mouse has been demonstrated as a possible recipient for human lymphatic tissue. In the present study, we have evaluated the SCID mouse as a possible in vivo model for Hodgkin's lymphoma. I) We demonstrate that seven permanent cell lines derived from patients with Hodgkin's disease grow progressively in SCID mice after subcutaneous and intraperitoneal inoculation. II) In addition, after intravenous injection, two of these lines (L540, L540Cy) show a disseminated growth pattern resembling the distribution of HD cells in man (involvement of lymph nodes, liver and bone marrow but not of spleen). The observed reproducible disseminated tumor growth establishes the SCID mouse as a new animal model for experimental treatment strategies in Hodgkin's lymphoma. III) We present preliminary results of the transplantation of primary material from 13 patients with Hodgkin's disease. Material from two patients induced human tumors in the SCID mice recipients, whereas material from two others led to the induction of mouse lymphomas. The human tumors showed three distinct histological patterns: 1) Lymphoproliferative disease (LPD); 2) anaplastic large cell lymphomas (ALCL); 3) Hodgkin like lesions (HLL). In vitro cell lines established from human SCID mouse tumors were of B-lymphoid origin, were EBV-positive and showed numerical and some structural chromosomal aberrations of varying degree.