Delayed occurrence of fatal neoplastic diseases in ames dwarf mice: correlation to extended longevity

Ames dwarf mice have drawn much attention in aging research because of their marked life extension. Studies demonstrate that some of the physiological characteristics of Ames dwarf mice are similar to those of dietary restricted mice. Because dietary restriction has been shown to suppress and/or delay the occurrence of various age-related diseases, we investigated age-related pathological changes in Ames dwarf mice. We observed Ames dwarf mice to have a delayed occurrence of presumably fatal neoplastic disease compared with their normal siblings. In addition to the delayed occurrence, we found that the incidence of presumably fatal adenocarcinoma in lung was significantly lower in Ames dwarf mice than for their normal siblings. The delayed occurrence of total neoplastic lesions and reduced incidence of adenocarcinoma in lung possibly could be attributed to the retardation of tumor development by changes in the levels of growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-1, and thereby be a major contributing factor to the extended life span observed in these mice.