Abstract
Estimates were made of the rates at which cancer cells were released directly into the renal vein in patients undergoing radical nephrectomy for primary renal cancer. Cancer cells were counted in blood samples taken from the renal vein using a density gradient centrifugation procedure, and identified using immunocytochemical techniques, on the basis of their cytoskeletal intermediate filament proteins. Cancer cells were released as single cells and multicell emboli in 8/10 patients, in numbers varying widely between 14-7509 emboli ml-1 of blood. Despite a calculated median input into the metastatic process of 3.7 x 10(7) cancer cells per day for at least 180 days, only 3/10 patients had extraperitoneal metastases prior to surgery and only 1 of the remaining disease-free patients subsequently developed distant metastases over a maximum 35 month period. These results are discussed in terms of primary tumour kinetics and metastatic inefficiency.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 24 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $10.79 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Glaves, D., Huben, R. & Weiss, L. Haematogenous dissemination of cells from human renal adenocarcinomas. Br J Cancer 57, 32–35 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1988.4
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1988.4
This article is cited by
-
Vom Konkreten zum Abstrakten, von der Heuristik zur Strenge: Eine neue Hoffnung für den Mathematikunterricht?
Mathematische Semesterberichte (2015)
-
Brain metastasis in renal cancer patients: metastatic pattern, tumour-associated macrophages and chemokine/chemoreceptor expression
British Journal of Cancer (2014)
-
Detection of cancer before distant metastasis
BMC Cancer (2013)
-
Should intraoperative cell-salvaged blood be used in patients with suspected or known malignancy?
Canadian Journal of Anesthesia/Journal canadien d'anesthésie (2012)
-
Positive lymph nodes do not metastasize
Cancer and Metastasis Reviews (2012)