One objective of this study was to test the plate implant as an in vivo bioassay for the neoplastic state with pairs of cell lines that were non-tumorigenic and tumorigenic when inoculated in suspension at various sites. Each pair originated from a common cell pool or from one cell derived from normal rat or mouse embryonic tissue. The implantation of cells attached to polycarbonate plates was compared with the subcutaneous injection of comparable numbers of cells in suspension or the intraocular injection of 10(5) cells. In addition, some implants of glass helices with attached cells were made into syngeneic mice and compared with injection of comparable cell numbers intramuscularly into X-irradiated hosts. A total of 10 lines or clones were tested on plates. Of four lines that were non-tumorigenic when inoculated in suspension either subcutaneously or intraocularly, two were tumorigenic when implanted subcutaneously attached to plastic plates. The remaining two are the first permanent rodent lines that have not been tumorigc on plastic plates. Of the remaining six lines, all were tumorigenic on plates and two produced sarcomas at a higher frequency on plates than in suspension. Cytologic diagnoses of the cells implanted on plates, subcutaneously and intraocularly, correlated best with the results from plate implants. Of three mouse lines implanted on helices, two were equally tumorigenic in suspension and on helices, whereas the third was tumorigenic on helices only. The plate implant was more satisfactory technically than the helices and proved to be one of the most sensitive bioassays for the neoplastic state of cultured cells.