UTERINE ADENOMATA IN THE RABBIT : I. CLINICAL HISTORY, PATHOLOGY AND PRELIMINARY TRANSPLANTATION EXPERIMENTS

Abstract

83 cases of an adenomatous tumor of the uterine mucosa have been observed in a colony of rabbits during the past 4 years The results of a clinical and pathological study of the tumor, together with a description of transplantation experiments are included in the present report. The clinical histories of tumor bearing animals are similar in all cases. Discovery of the tumor is preceded by a long period of reproductive disturbance, and its subsequent course is one of slow, continuous growth which has terminated in death with metastasis in all animals held under observation for longer than 1 year. Microscopically, the tumor shows an atypical alveolar structure, and its characteristics closely resemble those of an adenocarcinoma of the uterine fundus in women. Pathological changes similar to those observed in mice after treatment with estrogenic substances occur in the thyroid, suprarenal, pituitary and mammary glands. Intraocular transplantation of the tumor has been successful, and at the present time the growth has been carried through 6 generations by serial transfer.