Spontaneous lymphomas in mice genetically selected for high or low phytohemagglutinin responsiveness

Biozzi mice selected for high (Hi) or low (Lo) responsiveness to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) have been followed for their entire life-span to examine their pathology at death. Spontaneous lymphomas were found to exhibit higher incidence and faster development in Lo/PHA than in Hi/PHA females, whereas a similar difference between the two lines did not attain the level of statistical significance in male mice. The incidence of solid tumors was higher in Lo/PHA than in Hi/PHA males but the same in females of the two lines, yet the probability of dying from solid tumors was slightly increased in Lo/PHA mice of both sexes. All these results indicate that T-cell-mediated immunity influences mainly the spontaneous incidence of lymphomas and, to a lesser degree, the appearance of other solid tumors.