SW620 Metastatic Tumor Model Service for Colon Cancer

The SW620 Metastatic Tumor Model Service for Colon Cancer provides a human colorectal adenocarcinoma xenograft uniquely valuable for its documented metastatic origin and its matched-pair relationship with the primary-tumor line SW480. Alfa Cytology delivers this model as a complete preclinical solution — authenticated cell banking, immunodeficient host preparation, subcutaneous and orthotopic implantation, splenic and tail-vein metastasis induction, and full histopathological endpoint analysis — enabling colon cancer programs to study metastatic progression with an authenticated, clinically annotated system.

Overview of SW620 Metastatic Tumor Model for Colon Cancer

SW620 is a human colon adenocarcinoma cell line established by Albert Leibovitz in 1973 from a lymph node metastasis of a Dukes’ stage C colorectal adenocarcinoma in a 51-year-old Caucasian male patient — one year after the same laboratory had isolated the SW480 line from the patient’s primary tumor. This matched origin pair is the line’s greatest scientific asset: although genetically near-identical and sharing the same mutation profile — oncogenic KRAS (G12V), two TP53 alterations (R273H and P309S), and a truncating APC mutation — the lines exhibit measurably different epigenetic states, motility, and metastatic behavior, making SW620 the reference system for studying how metastatic competence evolves without wholesale genetic change. Molecularly, SW620 is microsatellite-stable (MSS) with chromosomal instability, and retains the intestinal differentiation markers CEA, CK20, and CDX2 while remaining CK7-negative — the authentic expression signature of colorectal adenocarcinoma.

Fig 1. Establishment and characterization of the highly metastatic SW620-LiM2 model: two rounds of in vivo selection (intrasplenic injection, splenectomy after 2 minutes, liver lesion recovery) yielded SW620-LiM1/LiM2 with liver metastasis 86%, lung metastasis 62%, and peritoneal metastasis 35% (parental: 35%, 9%, 16%), with liver-metastasis-free survival curves and ex vivo BLI/H&E/GFP of liver and lung lesions. (Urosevic, Jelena, et al., 2014)

In immunodeficient mice, SW620 engrafts with high reliability: about 1 × 10⁶ cells suspended in Matrigel and injected subcutaneously produce measurable flank tumors within roughly two weeks, a workhorse format in which the CDK inhibitor AZD5438 and the apoptosis inducer YLT205 are among the benchmarked agents. The line’s true strength, however, lies in metastasis-oriented designs: implantation into the colonic or rectal wall yields locally invasive, poorly differentiated tumors with stromal remodeling and neovascularization, while intrasplenic injection — particularly with luciferase-tagged SW620 followed by splenectomy — provides a controlled portal-circulation route to hepatic colonization that has been used to serially select increasingly liver-tropic derivatives (LiM/LiM2 and the L1/L2 lines), and tail-vein or left-ventricular delivery seeds lung and systemic lesions respectively. Together with its CO₂-independent growth in Leibovitz’s L-15 medium, this versatility has kept SW620 a standard platform for evaluating anti-metastatic strategies, Wnt/EMT pathway biology, and combination regimens in MSS colorectal cancer in vivo.

Cell Line Information: SW620

SW620 (also written SW-620) is among the most historically important colorectal cancer lines and a cornerstone of metastasis research. Its defining characteristics are summarized below.

Our Services

Alfa Cytology maintains authenticated, mycoplasma-free SW620 stocks — including luciferase-tagged derivatives — in optimized L-15 or CO₂-compatible workflows, alongside established nude, SCID, and NOD/SCID colonies with surgical capability for colonic, splenic, and tail-vein procedures. From rapid flank efficacy screens to in vivo-selected metastasis programs, every study is randomized, quality-controlled, and reported with rigorous statistical interpretation.

Workflow of SW620 Metastatic Tumor Model Construction

Constructing an SW620 study coordinates the line’s CO₂-independent culture preferences with the technical demands of each implantation route. The workflow below describes how the model is built and evaluated:

1. Cell Line Verification: SW620 cells are authenticated by STR profiling, confirmed mycoplasma-free, and expanded at controlled passage in L-15 or an approved alternative medium; reporter derivatives are checked for label stability.
2. Host Preparation and Allocation: Immunodeficient mice (athymic nude BALB/c, SCID, or NOD/SCID, matched to the study) are acclimatized and randomly assigned to experimental groups.
3. Route-Specific Implantation: Suspensions are delivered as planned: 1 × 10⁶ cells with Matrigel subcutaneously for growth studies, microinjected into the colonic or rectal wall for orthotopic modeling, injected into the spleen (about 5 × 10⁵ cells, with splenectomy) for liver metastasis, or administered via tail vein or left ventricle for systemic colonization.
4. Tumor Establishment and Monitoring: Implant sites are monitored; subcutaneous tumors typically become measurable within about two weeks, after which caliper measurements, body weight, and clinical status are recorded on schedule.
5. Randomization and Dosing: Animals are re-randomized once tumors reach the target size (e.g., approximately 100–150 mm³), and dosing with vehicle, reference agents, or test articles begins.
6. In-Life Follow-Up: Tumor growth and tolerability are tracked throughout; luciferase-labeled cohorts undergo serial bioluminescence imaging in vivo to monitor metastatic burden.
7. Terminal Endpoint Analysis: At necropsy, primary tumors are excised, weighed, and photographed; liver, lungs, lymph nodes, and other organs are examined macroscopically and by hematoxylin and eosin histology, with tissues processed for immunohistochemistry or nucleic-acid analysis as specified.
8. Data Analysis and Reporting: Tumor-growth inhibition, metastatic incidence and burden, and molecular data are statistically evaluated and consolidated into a final study report.

Fig 2. SW620 Metastatic Tumor Model construction workflow.

Case Study-SW620 Metastatic Tumor Model Development

In a representative preclinical engagement, Alfa Cytology implemented the SW620 metastatic colon cancer model for a sponsor advancing a therapeutic candidate against metastatic colorectal disease. The engagement covered expansion and authentication of cells, establishment of tumors in immunodeficient hosts by the route selected for the program, balanced allocation of vehicle and treatment arms, scheduled monitoring of tumor growth and animal condition, and terminal examination of primary tumors and metastasis-relevant organs with histological confirmation — yielding an integrated dataset that supported the client’s preclinical development planning. Formats can be configured around single-agent efficacy, matched-pair comparisons with SW480, orthotopic or splenic metastasis quantification, or biomarker-oriented endpoints.

Why Choose Alfa Cytology?

Alfa Cytology offers both the specialized model resources and the operational depth needed to extract full value from this historically important metastatic xenograft. Reasons sponsors choose our SW620 service include:

• Demonstrated execution with SW620 across nude, SCID, and NOD/SCID host systems.
• Authentic matched-pair capability with SW480 for primary-versus-metastasis comparisons.
• Complete route coverage — subcutaneous, orthotopic colorectal, intrasplenic, tail-vein, and left-ventricular formats.
• Access to luciferase reporter lines and in vivo-selected hepatic metastatic derivatives.
• Published treatment benchmarks for assay validation and cross-study comparability.
• Strict randomization, blinded scoring, and clear statistical reporting on agreed timelines.

Contact Us

Ready to leverage a true metastasis-derived colon cancer model for your next preclinical study? The SW620 specialists at Alfa Cytology are standing by to design the right program for you. Reach out to us to discuss study design, or contact us today for a customized quotation and timeline — we look forward to supporting your research.

For research use only. Not intended for any clinical use.