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Published on: October 4, 2018
A TRANSMISSIBLE AVIAN NEOPLASM. (SARCOMA OF THE COMMON FOWL.)
1Laboratories of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, New York.
The Journal of Experimental Medicine
|October 30, 2009
Summary
Researchers report the first transplantable avian tumor, a hen sarcoma, successfully propagated through four generations. This finding offers a new model for studying avian neoplasms.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Veterinary Medicine
- Comparative Pathology
Background:
- Avian tumors are significant in veterinary oncology.
- Transplantable tumor models are crucial for cancer research.
- Previous avian tumor studies lacked transplantability.
Purpose of the Study:
- To report the development and characterization of the first transplantable avian tumor.
- To establish a hen sarcoma model for further research.
- To compare avian tumor behavior to mammalian neoplasms.
Main Methods:
- A spindle-celled sarcoma was induced in a hen.
- Tumor tissue was serially transplanted into related fowls.
- Susceptibility was tested across different fowl breeds, pigeons, and guinea pigs.
- Bacteriological examinations were performed.
Main Results:
- The hen sarcoma was successfully propagated through four tumor generations.
- Young chickens showed higher susceptibility than adults.
- Transplantation success rates were low, but tumor growth was rapid in affected hosts.
- The sarcoma remained consistent in type, exhibiting infiltrative and destructive growth with one observed metastasis.
- Market-bought fowls, mixed breeds, pigeons, and guinea pigs were insusceptible.
- Bacteriological tests were negative.
Conclusions:
- This study presents the first transplantable avian sarcoma, a valuable model for cancer research.
- The avian sarcoma shares behavioral similarities with transplantable mammalian neoplasms.
- Further research is needed to explore transmission via cell fragments.
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