Some features in prostaglandin synthesis of the cancer cells which metastasized into liver from intestinal cancer lesions.

In order to study the mechanism of cancer metastasis, AH100B cells, an ascitic hepatoma cell line, were transplanted into the small intestine of male Donryu rats. Each metastatic nodule in the liver was collected with the respective intestinal lesion. Each sample thus obtained was injected into the peritoneal cavity of male Donryu rats to make free cancer cells. Then, the cancer cells, having an intact cell surface, of the metastatic and primary intestinal lesion were collected respectively. After washing in Dolbecco's PBS (Ca2+ and Mg(2+)-free, pH 7.2), the definite numbers of cancer cells of the metastatic and primary intestinal lesion were incubated in the PBS containing [1-14C]-AA at 25 degrees C for 30 min, respectively. AA metabolites formed during the incubation period were extracted and subjected to TLC, followed by autoradiography. Each radioactive part was scraped off the plate and measured for its radioactivity. The pattern of the ability to synthesize PGs was different between the cancer cells which metastasized to the liver and those of the primary lesion, that is, percentage values of PGE2 and PGF2 alpha were higher (p < 0.01) in the cancer cells which metastasized to liver as compared with those of the primary intestinal lesion. These results suggest that PGs produced by hepatic metastatic cancer cells might play an important role in cancer metastasis.