Vascularization and tumour volume estimations of solitary liver tumours in rats

Tumour vascularity of a transplantable N-methyl-N-nitrosoguanidine induced adenocarcinoma of the colon in the liver was investigated by repeated hepatic arteriography and portography. The arterial vascularity was influenced by tumour size; a transient increase in vascularization was observed when tumour size increased. Portography revealed portal vessels concentrated to the peripheral parts but some portal vessels were also observed leading to the central part of the adenocarcinomas. The tumour volume of solitary adenocarcinoma in the liver could be estimated from measurements of the largest (a) and smallest (b) diameters on the angiogram according to the formula V = a x b2/2.