Tumour‐induced host stromal‐cell transformation: Induction of mouse spindle‐cell fibrosarcoma not mediated by gene transfer

Abstract

Tumour‐induced host‐cell transformation has been addressed by examining human tumours in situ and following xenograft to nude mice. We have found evidence for the transformation of host stromal fibroblasts both in vivo and following the introduction of the tumours to in vitro culture. The in vitro culture of one such xenograft‐derived from a human prostatic adenocarcinoma‐resulted in the outgrowth of a transformed aneuploid mouse cell line. This transformed line was tumourigenic both in BALB/c nu/nu (nude) mice and in heterozygous nu/+ mice, with the morphology of a spindlecell sarcoma. The cell line did not express human isozymes or human histocompatibility antigens, nor were human chromoso..