Comparative analysis of colorectal carcinoma cell lines that differ in metastatic potential

The present work is an attempt to compare cancer cells of the same origin but differing in the expression of CEA protein, a clinical marker of metastatic carcinomas. CEA, presumably, is one of the key factors in metastatic activity. We investigated the morphology of cell colonies in vitro, the expression pattern of epithelial markers, and the ability of these cells to form tumors and metastases in vivo. Their stem component was evaluated with a suicidal genetic construct sensitive to Oct4, an embryonic stem cell marker.