HORMONAL INFLUENCES ON TUMOUR GROWTH IN THE UTERUS OF THE RAT

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The Walker carcinosarcoma was inoculated into the uterine lumen of the following 6 groups of rats: normal oestrous cycles; ovariectomized; ovariectomized + 2 mg progesterone daily; ovariectomized + 2 mg progesterone + 2 [mu]g estradiol-17 B daily; ovariectomized + 2 mg progesterone daily + a single injection of 0.2 [mu]g estradiol-17 [beta] on the day of tumor transplantation; and pseudopregnant, Day 5. While the tumor grew well outside the uterus in all groups, tumor tissue only invaded the uterine wall in Groups 5 and 6. Growth was most marked in the pseudopregnant animals, where the tumor was actively invading the anti-mesometrial decidua. In Groups 3 and 5, the uterine lumen was full of extravasated blood and polymorphonuclear leucocytes, whereas in Groups 1, 2 and 4 the uterus appeared normal, with no signs of any tissue reaction. The tumor behaves like the blastocyst; its ability to survive within the uterus is hormone dependent, whereas it can develop outside the uterus irrespective of the hormonal environment. The mechanisms by which a hostile endomet-rium can destroy the tumor are not known.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: