Establishment of a lymph node metastatic model of mouse hepatocellular carcinoma Hca-F cells in C3H/Hej mice

To establish a transplantable lymph node metastatic animal model, mouse hepatocellular carcinoma Hca-F cells were implanted into C3H/Hej mice by subcutaneous inoculation. The characters of the metastasis were determined macroscopically and microscopically. During 17 generations, the percentages of metastasis of Hca-F cells remained between 80\% and 100\%. Hca-F cells metastasized only to the lymph node, and did not disseminate to other organs of C3H/Hej mice. The percentages of metastasis in inoculated mice and the average percentages of lymph node metastasis in each mouse increased in an almost proportional fashion with the number of implanted cells (r = 0.832, for the percentages of metastasis; r = 0.949, for the average percentages of lymph node metastasis) and time after the implantation (r = 0.933, for the percentages of metastasis; r = 0.959, for the average percentages of lymph node metastasis). This transplantable lymph node metastatic model of mouse hepatocellular carcinoma Hca-F cells in C3H/Hej mice provides a useful tool for the study of the mechanism of tumor lymph node metastasis and may provide a new insight into the development of tumor experimental therapy