Heterogeneity of potential for hematogenous metastasis in a human pancreatic carcinoma

Human pancreatic carcinoma, a disease with grave prognosis, frequently metastasizes to the liver, with detrimental consequences for the host. Good models of experimental metastasis for this disease are lacking. We describe a model of hepatic metastasis from the fast-growing variant (FG) of the human pancreatic carcinoma COLO 357. We also show that the slow-growing variant (SG) of COLO 357 lacks the potential for forming hepatic and pulmonary metastases following injection into the spleen of the nude mouse. This expression of heterogeneity of potential for hematogenous metastases can be exploited by pursuing studies aiming at identifying differences between the cells with and without metastatic potential.