Base-line data in a carcinogen-susceptible first-generation hybrid strain of Syrian golden hamsters: F1D Alexander

Base-line data in over 600 control animals of both sexes of the first-generation hybrid BIO F1D Alexander strain of Syrian golden hamsters are presented. They involve mortality, body weights, spontaneous tumor incidence, and incidence of nonneoplastic lesions. The results confirmed previously published data on smaller numbers of animals of this hamster strain. Spontaneous tumors with an incidence of more than 2% were limited to lymphomas (less than or equal to 6%), adrenocortical carcinomas (less than 8%), adrenal adenomas (9-14% in males; 3.5% in females), islet cell adenomas (less than 6%), and follicular adenomas of the thyroid gland (3.5% in females only). This low incidence of spontaneous tumors and the high survival rate (compared to those of hamsters from other sources), together with the previously established high susceptibility to tumor induction by carcinogen administration, render the F1D Alexander hamster an excellent animal model for lifetime carcinogenesis bioassays.