ABSTRACT

In this chapter, the authors review some of the results of the research work made in their laboratory in this field, particularly about the mechanisms of platelet activation by sublines with different metastatic potential of murine experimental tumors; these results can help to better understand. They examines different metastatic potentials of two murine tumors: sublines M4 and M9 of the benzopyrene-induced mFS6 sarcoma and two fibrosarcoma lines transformed by Rous sarcoma virus (RSV). The neoplastic cells of all the sublines were grown in tissue culture flasks; for sublines M4 and M9 RPMI-1640 medium was used, supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum. The authors show that neoplastic cells can activate platelets through different mechanisms, but it suggests that probably only some of them are truly relevant in the development of platelet-dependent tumor metastasis. A correlation between “in vivo” neoplastic cell invasiveness and platelet-stimulating activity was found in the sublines of mFS6 sarcoma, but not in the RSV transformed fibrosarcoma lines.