Experimental-induced sarcomas after intra-articular injection of 9-10-dimethyl-1-2-benzanthracene

The authors describe an experimental study on rabbits whereby the development of sarcomas was induced following injection into the knee joint with 9-10-dimethyl-1-2-benzanthracene. The results of the experiment are in contrast to those of other authors as no "synovialoma" or synovial sarcoma developed but only morphological patterns which might belong to malignant fibrous histiocytoma and occasionally fibrosarcoma. In accord with our results the hypothesis is discussed that all malignant mesenchymal neoplasias result from a not clearly identifiable pluripotent mesenchymal stem cell.