Malignant pleural mesothelioma is a refractory
tumor with increasing incidence. In the present study, we established six
mesothelioma cell lines possessing two allele deletions of the
p16(INK4A) gene and one allele deletion of the
neurofibromatosis type 2 gene, MM16, MM21, MM26, MM35, MM46 and MM56, from
pleural effusion fluids or surgically resected
tumors of Japanese patients. MM21, MM26 and MM46 cells failed to develop
tumors in BALB/c-nude mice following subcutaneous inoculation. MM16 and MM35 cells slowly generated
tumors at the site of subcutaneous inoculation in BALB/c-nude mice, but lost the expression of
mesothelioma-related markers such as
calretinin, D2-40 and
Wilms' tumor 1 in the subcutaneous
tumors. On the other hand, MM56 cells rapidly generated
tumors with the expression of
calretinin and D2-40 in BALB/c-nude mice following subcutaneous inoculation. In addition, orthotopic implantation of MM56 cells into BALB/c-nude mice developed diffusely growing thoracic
tumors by 3 weeks after implantation.
Pleural effusions were observed in these mice 4 weeks after implantation. Thoracic
tumors invaded aggressively into the chest wall 5 weeks after implantation and often metastasized into the lung, rib, peritoneum and pericardial cavity. On the pleural surface, MM56 cells were growing as single or multiple cell layers with the reactive mesothelium of recipient mice. These results indicate that MM56 cells can behave in a manner characteristic of human
malignant pleural mesothelioma in the thoracic cavity of BALB/c-nude mice. The in vivo model using MM56 cells may be useful for studying the
biological behavior of
malignant pleural mesothelioma and developing its diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.