Possibility of inducing glandular stomach cancer in rats exposed to asbestos

The possibility of glandular stomach cancer being induced was studied in 75 random bred white rats exposed to chrysotile asbestos. A perforated polyethylene capsule containing 100 mg asbestos and filler (beef fat and natural wax mixture 1:1) was introduced in an artificial bag placed on the greater curvature of the stomach. A capsule containing filler only was introduced in a similar way in 40 control rats. In the following 25 months, 18 tumors of the stomach and abdominal cavity were found in the rats treated with asbestos (eight adenomas, two adenocarcinomas, one carcinosarcoma, one forestomach cancer, one intestinal adenocarcinoma, two peritoneal mesotheliomas, and three abdominal lymphoreticulosarcomas.) Among the control rats no such tumors were found. The results of the experiment are discussed in connection with epidemiological data on stomach cancer in asbestos workers.