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Contributions of Tissue Culture Studies to an Understanding of the Biology of Cancer: A Review^*

( Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pa.)

In this review recent contributions of tissue culture studies are related to some of the current thinking on cancer biology. Special attention is directed to the view of the natural history of cancer as a kind of developmental process that involves both tumor and host. The topics of carcinogenesis, carcinoma in situ, local invasion, metastasis, diagnosis, and chemotherapy are considered.

Tissue culture technics appear to have particular promise in elucidating some of the primary mechanisms in the developmental biology of cancer, especially in the realm of interaction between cancer and normal cells.

Two points of speculation on the mechanisms of invasion are offered. These appear to be plausible on the basis of preliminary experiments and are being examined with further experimentation. One point suggests that a mechanism acting to limit the spread of cancer comes into operation for tumors that produce extensive dissolution of the surrounding ground substance. According to this scheme such lysis is accompanied by progressive coalescing and matting of connective tissue fibers, tending to confine the expansive growth of the tumor.

The other point suggests that aggregates of cancer cells function as supracellular units and that the mechanisms controlling the size and duplication of such units are related to the capacity of tumors to invade normal tissues.

^* The author's current work referred to in this review is supported by Research Grant C-2800 from the National Cancer Institute, Public Health Service.

This is publication No. 129, from the Dept. of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Received 7/ 5/57.