Progression, lethality and remission of hemic neoplasia in the bay mussel Mylilus edulis

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Abstract
The course of the blood cell proliferative disorder (hemocytic neoplasia, HCN), was studied over 128 d in 40 bay mussels Mytilus edulis. Individuals obtained from a high prevalence cultivated population were maintained in the laboratory and sampled sequentially on 7 occasions for hemocytological analysis of HCN. Mussels were examined histologically at death or at the termination of the experiment. Ten (25%) of the individuals were disease-free throughout the experiment. Twenty (50%) developed the progressive disease. Of these, 12 had died and 6 of the remaining 8 were at an advanced stage at the end of the experiment. Eight (20%) mussels appeared to be in a state of remission at the end of the experiment and displayed an active host response to the abnormal blood cells. The remission phenomenon was characterized by the entrapment of abnormal cells in an extracellular matrix apparently secreted by normal, active hemocytes. It is concluded that (1) the disease is progressive and fatal but that some individuals have the ability to develop a host response resulting in remission, at least temporarily; (2) a synchronous transition hypothesis more accurately represents progression of the disease in M. edulis than a clonal progression hypothesis.

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