VASCULARITY AND PERFUSION OF HUMAN GLIOMAS XENOGRAFTED IN THE ATHYMIC NUDE-MOUSE

The vascularisation and perfusion of seven subcutaneously xenografted human glioma lines established from surgical specimens has been analysed using an anti-collagen type IV antibody to visualise the vascular walls in combination with a perfusion marker (Hoechst 33342). A computer-based digital image processing system was employed for quantitative analysis of the parameters. The vascular architecture of individual tumours belonging to the same tumour line showed a consistent similarity, while substantial differences occurred between the various tumour lines derived from different patients. Despite the presence of a large inter-tumour variation in vascular area as a proportion of the tumour area, this vascular parameter clearly showed tumour line-specific characteristics. The perfused fraction of the tumour vessels also showed a large inter-tumour variation for all tumour lines ranging from 20% to 85%, but the majority of tumours of all lines had perfusion fractions of more than 55%. Despite large variation, the perfused vascular area as a proportion of the tumour cross-sectional area exhibited clear tumour line-specific tendencies. These observations suggest that consistent differences in vascular parameters are present between glioma xenograft lines, although the tumour lines all originated from histologically similar human high-grade gliomas. These differences may have important consequences for treatment and clinical behaviour of this type of tumour.