Frozen Storage of 34 Various Solid and Ascites Tumors^*

A variety of transplantable mouse, rat, hamster, and chicken tumors have been successfully stored at −76° C. (dry-ice chest) for a period of 1 year. These tumors are seven sarcomas, a mammary carcinoma, a skin carcinoma, a bladder carcinoma, a lung carcinoma, two lymphosarcomas, a glioma, a leukemia, a virus leukemia, a pancreatic tumor, and a small intestine tumor. Transplantability of a majority of mammary-type tumors was greatly damaged by frozen storage at −76° C. Transplantability of very slowly growing tumors—namely, Harding-Passey melanoma, Andervont hepatoma, Iglesias functional ovarian tumor, and Iglesias functional adrenal tumor—was either completely or almost completely abolished by frozen storage at −76° C. for 3 months.

The viability of Ridgway osteogenic sarcoma was completely destroyed by frozen storage for 1 month at −76° C. Transplantability of Wagner osteogenic sarcoma was markedly reduced following storage at −76° C. The viability of Ridgway osteogenic sarcoma was almost completely destroyed by frozen storage for 1 day at −76° C. or −25° C. Maintenance of this tumor for 1 day at 4°–5° C. did not alter its transplantability. Hauschka's slow freezing technic (from 0° C. to −25° C.) of neoplastic tissues appears to be less harmful to the viability of frozen tumor (Ridgway osteogenic sarcoma) than the technic of freezing described in the present report.