The placenta as a substitute for cancerous models

The tissue distribution of various radiopharmaceuticals was investigated in Rhabdomyosarcoma-bearing rats and in pregnant rats during the period of rapid foetal and placental growth (days 17-19 of pregnancy). The results indicate that with the radiopharmaceuticals tested the uptake in placental tissue followed closely the data obtained with tumour tissue in Rhabdomyosarcoma-bearing rats (1). We describe here the parallels between cell replication in the placenta and in malignant tumours and propose that the placenta merits more attention in the field of biomedical research.