Primary human colorectal carcinomas which had already metastasized to the draining lymph nodes have been studied by transmission electron microscopy and tissue culture. The invasive edges were indentified by examining mirror-image blocks for light and electron microscopy. In the invasive edge there are single cells and small clusters of cells which have ultrastructural features suggestive of active cell movement; clusters of cells are found in the lymphatic trunks and in the subcapsular sinus of draining lymph nodes. Small clusters of cells survive in short-term culture; some of these cells are actively motile. These findings support the view that there is a sub-population of motile and invasive cells at the edge of human colorectal cancers.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Albrecht-Buehler, G., 1976, Filopodia of spreading 3T3 cells. Do they have a substrate exploring function? Journal of Cell Biology, 69, 275–286.
Albrecht-Buehler, G., 1979, Group locomotion of PtKl cells. Experimental Cell Research, 122, 402–407.
Armstrong, P. B., 1985, The control of cell motility during embryogenesis. Cancer Metastasis Reviews, 4, 59–80.
Balasz, M., and Kovacs, A., 1981, Electron microscopic study of carcinoma of the colon. Experimental Pathology, 20, 203–214.
Boschek, C. B., Jockusch, B. M., Friis, R. R., Back, R., Grundmann, E., and Bauer, H., 1981, Early changes in the distribution and organization of microfilament proteins during cell transformation. Cell, 24, 175–184.
Brattain, M. G., Levine, A. E., Chakrabarty, S., Yeoman, L. C., Willson, J. K. V., and Long, B., 1984, Heterogeneity of human colon carcinoma. Cancer Metastasis Reviews, 3, 177–191.
Brown, D. T., Anderton, B. H., and Wyllie, C. C., 1983, The organization of intermediate filaments in normal human colonic epithelium and colonic carcinoma cells. International Journal of Cancer, 32, 163–169.
Carr, I., 1983, Lymphatic metastasis. Cancer Metastasis Reviews, 2, 307–317.
Carr, I., Carr, J., and Dreher, B., 1981, Lymphatic metastasis of mammary adenocarcinoma: an experimental study in the rat with a brief review of the literature. Invasion and Metastasis, 1, 34–53.
Carr, I., Levy, M., Orr, K., and BRunt, J., 1985, Lymph node metastasis and cell movement: Ultrastructural studies on the rat 13762 mammary carcinoma and Walker carcinoma. Clinical and Experimental Metastasis, 3, 125–139.
Carr, I., and Orr, F. W., 1983, Invasion and metastasis. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 128, 1164–1167.
Franks, L. M., 1976, Cell and organ culture techniques as applied to the study of carcinoma of the colon and rectum. Pathologia Europeae, 11, 167–177.
Friedman, E., 1981, Differential response of premalignant epithelial cell classes to phorbol esters tumor promoters and to deoxycholic acid. Cancer Research, 41, 4588–4599.
Friedman, E., Higgins, P. J., Lipkin, M., Shinya, H., and Gelb, A. M., 1981, Tissue culture of human epithelial cells from benign colonic tumors. In Vitro, 17, 632–644.
Friedman, E., and Steinberg, M., 1982, Disrupted communication between late stage premalignant human colon epithelial cells by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate. Cancer Research, 42, 5096–5105.
Friedman, E., Urmacher, C., and Winawer, S. A., 1984, A model for human colon cancer evolution based on the differential response of cultured preneoplastic, premalignant and malignant cells to 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate. Cancer Research, 44, 1568–1578.
Friedman, E., Verderame, M., Winawer, S., and Pollack, R., 1984, Actin cytoskeletal organization loss in the benign to malignant tumor transition in cultured human colonic epithelial cells. Cancer Research, 44, 3040–3050.
Ingall, J. R. F., and Mastromarino, A. J., editors, 1985, Carcinoma of the Large Bowel and its Precursors (New York: Liss).
Liotta, L., 1984, Tumor invasion and metastasis: role of the basement membrane. American Journal of Pathology, 117, 339–348.
Liotta, L., and Hart, I. (editors), 1982, Tumor Invasion and Metastasis (Hague: Martinus Nijhoff).
Miller, W., Ota, D., Giacco, G., Guinee, V., Irimura, T., Nicolson, G., and Cleary, K., 1985, Absence of a relationship of size of primary colon carcinoma with metastasis and survival. Clinical and Experimental Metastasis, 3, 189–196.
Mughal, S., and Filipe, S., 1978, Ultrastructural evidence of the normal mucosaadenoma-carcinoma sequence in the development of familial polyposis coli. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 60, 753–768.
Muller-Glauser, W., Haemmerli, G., in Albon, A., and Strauli, P., 1984, Morphology of peritumoral proteoglycan alterations in the rabbit mesentery invaded by V2 carcinoma cells. International Journal of Cancer, 34, 545–553.
Schirrmacher, V., 1985, Cancer metastasis: experimental approaches, theoretical concepts, and impacts for treatment strategies. Advances in Cancer Research, 43, 1–73.
Strauli, P., and Haemmerli, G., 1984, The role of cancer cell motility in invasion. Cancer Metastasis Reviews, 3, 127–141.
Trinkaus, J. P., 1984, Cells into Organs (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall).
Turley, E. A., 1984, Proteoglycans and cell adhesion: their putative role during tumorigenesis. Cancer Metastasis Reviews, 3, 325–339.
Weiss, L., and Holmes, J. C., 1980, Some effects of tumor necrosis on components of active cell movement. Proteinases and Tumor Invasion, edited by P. Strauli (New York: Raven Press), pp. 181–196.
Weiss, L., 1985, Principles of Metastasis (New York: Academic Press).
Wooley, D. E., 1984, Collagenolytic mechanisms in tumor cell invasion. Cancer Metastasis Reviews, 3, 361–372.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Carr, I., Levy, M. & Watson, P. The invasive edge: invasion in colorectal cancer. Clin Exp Metast 4, 129–139 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00119079
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00119079