Histologic changes following oestradiol treatment of a hormone-responsive human breast carcinoma grown in nude mice

Abstract

The histology following oestradiol treatment of a hormone-responsive human breast carcinoma grown in nude mice is described. The treatment induced characteristic histologic changes which included a progressive and pronounced proliferation of connective tissue splitting up the tumour tissue. The number of tumour cell mitoses declined rapidly and an increasing number of tumour giant cells appeared. The significance of the histologic findings are discussed in relation to previously obtained results on the effect of oestradiol on growth and cell kinetics of the same human breast carcinoma. The morphologic features corroborated the results of the kinetic studies.