We studied the mechanisms of platelet activation by sublines exhibiting different metastatic potential of two murine experimental tumors: sublines M4 and M9 of the benzopyrene-induced mFS6 sarcoma and sublines B77-AA6 and B77-3T3 of RSV-transformed BALB/c 3T3 fibroblasts. The neoplastic cells of both models induced platelet aggregation, secretion and prostaglandin biosynthesis. In the first model but not in the second, all these processes correlated with the in vivo malignancy of cells. Pretreatment of B77-AA6 and B77-3T3 cells with apyrase significantly decreased platelet aggregation, while pretreatment of M4 cells was ineffective. However, pretreatment with trypsin or neuraminidase was effective in reducing platelet aggregation induced by M4 cells, but not that induced by any of the others; furthermore, phospholipase A2 reduced the platelet response by all sublines. Finally, platelet-activating activity was also found in the pellets obtained following centrifugation of culture media. These results suggest that platelets are stimulated by cancer cells through different mechanisms; platelet activation by a sialo-lipo-protein complex of the cellular membrane was found to be characteristic of the model in which the platelet-aggregating activity of neoplastic cells correlated with their in vivo metastatic behavior.