Two lines of Walker carcinoma 256: their peculiarities and different interactions with the host.

ABSTRACT

Two sublines of Walker 256 carcinoma have been characterized for their ability to metastasize and to induce cachexia. The invasive, metastasizing line A induced terminal anorexia in rats with a mean survival time of 27 +/- 1.5 days. The non-invasive line B induced early anorexia and cachexia with a mean survival time of only 15 +/- 1 days. At death, the line B tumor was still smaller than the line A one, and no metastases were detectable. These two sublines are discussed as a composite model for studying anorexia and cachexia together with invasion and metastasis.