Choriocarcinoma of Women Maintained in Serial Passage in Hamster and Rat

Summary1) Three choriocarcinomata from women have been successfully adapted to serial transplantation in cheek-pouch of the cortisonized hamster and one of these can be carried in previously untreated hamster. This latter strain has also been adapted to subcutaneous growth in the cortisonized, irradiated, hypophysectomized or intact female rat. 2) These heterologously maintained tumors produce in the host gonadotropic effects characteristic of human chorionic gonadotropic hormone. Biologically detectable amounts of hormone are readily demonstrable in homogenates of the growing tumor tissue and in peripheral blood of tumor-bearing hamster. The tumors exhibit no estrogenic, adrenotropic, or thyrotropic effect in the hamster. 3) Each tumor strain presents a quantitatively reproducible growth pattern which renders it adaptable to studies of the effect of chemotherapeutic and other inhibitory agents.