Syngeneic in vivo passage of the murine BW 5147 lymphoma results in the expression of a stable metastatic phenotype.

BW 5147 lymphoma cells are non-invasive tumor cells which do not generate experimental metastases following i.v. inoculation. In contrast, s.c. and intra-splenic (i.s.) growth of BW cells resulted in widespread colonization of liver and spleen. Cells derived from either s.c. tumors or metastatic lesions did generate metastases after i.v. administration. The capacity of these tumor-derived BW cells to disseminate via blood-borne cells was irreversible and stable, indicating that one in vivo passage of BW cells results in the generation of new, metastatic BW variants. Concomitantly, these variants exhibited an inherent invasive potential as manifested by their capacity to infiltrate in vitro monolayers of hepatocytes and fibroblasts. The BW variants expressed new membrane markers such as H-2 antigens, the Lyt 1.2 T-cell differentiation antigen and the MTH antigen (a newly defined membrane antigen expressed predominantly on murine metastatic T-cell lymphomas and mature T lymphocytes). This phenomenon was observed with both cloned and uncloned BW populations, suggesting that an inductive rather than a selective mechanism accounts for the transition of BW cells towards a more malignant phenotype. These observations confirm the concept that local factors at the growth site of a tumor might influence the metastatic behavior of that tumor, possibly via induction of silent differentiation programs.