Plasminogen is a determinant of LLC tumor growth through a mechanism linked to anatomic location. (A) Tumor mass after LLCGFP transplantation into the dorsal subcutis of control (•, n = 4) and plasminogen-deficient (○, n = 5) mice was estimated by serial calipation. Tumor sizes were not significantly different between the cohorts at any time point. Direct tumor weight measurements made at the time of animal killing were also not significantly different (data not shown). Tumor size after LLCGFP transplantation into the footpad was estimated by serial calipation of tumor width (B) and direct tumor weight at day 14 (C) in the footpad of control (•, n = 6) and plasminogen-deficient (○, n = 7) mice. Footpad tumors in plasminogen-deficient mice were significantly smaller than in control animals at every time point, including the final weight measurement (P < .02 at each comparison; Mann-Whitney U test). Horizontal lines in panel C indicate median values. Error bars indicate standard deviation from the mean.
