Tumor latency in avian lymphoid leukosis

Transfer of bursa cells from older chicken infected with lymphoid leukosis (LL) virus into young recipient chicks depleted of bursal lymphocytes by cyclophosphamide shortened the latency period for lymphoma development in recipient chickens by an amount equivalent to the age of the donor. Chickens were crosses between males of the Regional Poultry Research Laboratory, East Lansing, Michigan, inbred line 151, subline 5, and females of inbred line 7, subline 2. In a further experiment with intact infected chicks, artificial metastasis at various ages by surgical bursectomy and inoculation of bursa cells into the bloodstream of the host did not shorten the latency period. These results suggest that latency in avian LL is a property of target B-cells and is unrelated to maturational events of the host physiology.