Spontaneous metastasis of PC-3 cells in athymic mice after implantation in orthotopic or ectopic microenvironments

The ability of subcutaneous, prostatic, and nonprostatic intraabdominal organ microenvironments to influence local tumor growth and metastasis of PC-3 human prostate carcinoma cells in athymic mice was determined. Tumorigenesis and metastasis of PC-3 were evaluated 60 days after subcutaneous and intraprostatic (orthotopic) implantation of 5 x 10(5) PC-3 cells in 6-week-old, male athymic mice. Intraprostatic implantation of PC-3 cells resulted in paraaortic lymph node metastases in 10 of 10 (100%) mice with prostatic tumors, whereas metastases were present in only 2 of 9 (22%) mice after subcutaneous implantation. Next, we determined whether the urinary bladder (nonprostatic, urogenital microenvironment) or stomach (nonurogenital, intraabdominal microenvironment) would facilitate the metastasis of PC-3 cells in athymic mice. Tumorigenesis and metastasis were 100% after subserosal implantation of PC-3 cells within the wall of the urinary bladder (n = 6 mice). Subserosal implantation of PC-3 cells into the stomach wall (n = 7 mice) also resulted in tumor formation and metastasis to regional lymph nodes in 100% of mice. In all experiments, regional lymph nodes were the most frequent site of metastasis, regardless of implantation site. We conclude that tumor microenvironment factors responsible for the metastasis of PC-3 cells in athymic mice may not be organ-specific, since nonprostatic visceral microenvironments are sufficient for predictable metastasis. Use of these models may further our understanding of how tumor microenvironment modulates expression of the metastatic phenotype by human prostate carcinoma cells.