The morphology of tumors of the human gastrointestinal tract in short-term organ culture and the reaction of these tumors to infection with poliovirus.

A morphologic study of 57 cancers of the human gastrointestinal tract maintained in short-term organ culture was carried out, and the response of part of these tumors to infection with poliovirus was studied. The tumors, grown in vitro, mainly retained their original characteristics and histologic types. A certain correlation between the histologic type and its viability in short-term organ culture was revealed: the more differentiated forms were maintained better than the poorly differentiated ones. A comparative study of the polio-virus-infected and the control cultures indicated that wild poliovirus showed the most marked oncolytic activity in short-term organ culture, whereas attenuated poliovirus III produced a less marked, although still distinct, destructive effect.