High incidence, early onset of histiocytic sarcomas in mice with Hertwig's anemia

Histiocytic sarcoma (HS) is a rare, rapidly disseminated, usually lethal tumor in humans. Treatment specific for HS has not been developed primarily due to deficiencies of appropriate animal models with high incidence/early onset. Mice with Hertwig's anemia (an/an) provide a potential model.

Here, we compare HS susceptibility in an/an and unaffected control mice maintained on three genetic backgrounds. As a potential therapeutic measure, genetically marked bone marrow is transplanted between high and low susceptibility animals.

HS is detected earlier and the overall incidence is 15-fold higher in WBB6F1(F1)-an/an than in F1-+/?, B6-an/an and -+/? mice. Neither WB-an/an nor their normal WB-+/? littermates present with HS. Liver myelopoiesis and aneuploidy coexist with HS but the former is also rampant (33.7% incidence) in HS-free +/? and an/an mice. Marrow transplantation experiments provide evidence that (1) myelopoiesis is associated with HS and (2) early-onset/high-incidence HS is blocked by using late-onset F1-+/+ mice, as either donor or recipient.

Homozygosity for an on an F1 genetic background is essential for high-incidence/early-onset HS; myelopoiesis and HS coexist; and therapeutic transplantation may be feasible.