Leukemia in the Rhesus Monkey (Macaca mulatta) Exposed to Whole-Body Neutron Irradiation

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
This is a report of a single instance of myelocytic leukemia occurring in a rhesus monkey exposed to fractionated low doses of whole-body neutron irradiation. Time from onset of irradiation to onset of disease was 6 years. Over a 3-year period, the animal received 608 reps from a polonium-beryllium neutron source at an estimated dose rate of 87 milli-rep per hour. The white blood cell count (WBC) remained at 5,000 during the 3-year period of fractionated irradiation. WBC restabilized at 10,000 for the next 3-year period. During the final 6 months, the WBC gradually rose to a final count in excess of 200,000 cells per mm3. Blast forms were present in the peripheral blood during the last 5 months and attained a differential count of 69% on the day of the animal''s death. Microscopic examination of tissue sections revealed extensive leukemic infiltration of bone marrow, spleen, lymph nodes, heart, and kidneys. Lungs, liver, adrenals, thyroid, gastrointestinal tract, and cerebellum were minimally involved. Four other monkeys exposed under the same conditions show no evidence of white blood cell abnormalities on either peripheral blood or bone marrow preparations. A 5 mm bronchial adenoma was found microscopically.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: