Intra-tumoral heterogeneity in metastatic potential and survival signaling between iso-clonal HCT116 and HCT116b human colon carcinoma cell lines

Characterization of the intra-tumoral heterogeneity between two iso-clonal human colon cancer sublines HCT116 and HCT116b on their ability to undergo metastatic colonization and survive under growth factor deprivation stress (GFDS). Microarray analysis revealed an upregulation of survival and metastatic genes in the highly metastatic HCT116 primary colon tumor cells compared to the poorly metastatic HCT116b primary colon tumor cells. Total RNA obtained from isolated primary colon tumors of HCT116 and HCT116b xenograft transplanted animals obtained using the orthotopic implantation of HCT116 and HCT116b human colon cancer xenografts in the cecum of male athymic BALB/c nude mice were compared at their gene expression level.