Quantitative Study of Liver Metastases From Colon Cancer in Rats After Treatment With Cyclosporine A<xref ref-type='fn' rid='FN1'>2</xref>

Liver metastases were produced in syngeneic BD IX rats by intraportal injection of colon cancer cell aggregates. The cells originated from the DHD/K12 cell line, derived from a 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (CAS: 540-73-8)-induced colon adenocarcinoma in BD IX rats. The animals received either cyclosporine A (CSA) or the excipients alone (control) through daily gastric intubation during 6 weeks. Multiple and very large hepatic metastases were observed early in 100% of the CSA-treated rats. The mean tumor volume was approximately 2,000 times higher in the CSA-treated group than in the controls (P less than .01). Survival time in the CSA-treated group was shortened (P less than .01) by generalized metastatic disease. Easy production of metastasis from colon cancer in 100% of the animals and precise estimation of tumor volume may prove useful for future therapeutic studies of secondary hepatic disease.