The Estrous Cycles of Mice during Growth of Spontaneous Mammary Tumors and the Effects of Ovarian Follicular and Anterior Pituitary Hormones

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Abstract
During the later stages of tumor growth in extra-uterine sites in women, cessation of menstruation has frequently been recorded. This is often dismissed as a probable consequence of the cachectic condition of the patient. A similar cessation of the estrous cycle may occur in mice coincident with the growth of spontaneous mammary tumors. In both instances the condition seems to be similar to cessation of cyclic activity as sexual life wanes. For several years one of us has concentrated on inbreeding mice that develop spontaneous tumors. A number of strains have been established with an extremely high incidence of atypical growths of the mammary glands and with the onset of this condition relatively early in life (Strong, 1934, 1935). The hormone control of the genital organs during the estrous and menstrual cycles has been the senior author's major interest (Allen, 1922, 1927), while the reaction of the mammary glands to ovarian and pituitary hormones has been studied intensively by one of us (Gardner, 1933, 1935). It seemed a good opportunity for a cooperative study of the effect of growth of these mammary tumors on the pituitary-ovarian mechanism of estrous rhythm in the genital tract.

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