Intra-cranial transplantation of canine malignant lymphomas in the nude mouse

Intra-cranial grafts of two canine lymphomas, previously maintained by serial sub-cutaneous (s.c.) transplantation, were performed in the nude mouse, in an attempt to characterize lymphoma cell lines in that species which could provide a model of human diffuse large cell B non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. In one of them (DL.24N), the metastatic lesions in the lymph nodes and spleen were unexpectedly predominant, whereas the i.c. growth of the tumour cells, detected histologically, did not lead to any clinical manifestation. In the other one (DL.31N), the i.c. tumour growth led to early clinical symptoms, whereas no metastasis outside the central nervous system could be detected. These observations could provide an interesting tool for studies of the metastatic behaviour of lymphomas.