Different effects of mechanical stress (high energy shock wave treatment) in normal and transformed lung epithelial cell lines of Syrian hamster

Extracorporeal shock wave treatment is mainly used to destroy renal-, ureteral-, and gall-stones (Chaussy et al. 1983, 1984; Hood et al. 1988; Sackmann et al. 1988; Staritz et al. 1989). This application raises the question whether shock waves also exert effects on the surrounding tissue, especially since mechanical stress may induce cellular damage and alterations in intracellular organization. Studies with various tumor cell lines revealed different sensitivities of these cells to high energy shock waves (HESW) implicating that HESW might also be a tool for treatment of tumor tissue (Berens et al. 1989; van Dongen et al. 1989; Russso et al. 1985, 1986). Whereas these investigations were performed with different cell types, it is useful to study cell lines originating from the same clone for direct comparison of effects.