Influences of age and anatomical site on ultraviolet carcinogenesis in BALB/c mice

Young adult BALB/c mice were mor susceptible to the induction of skin tumors from FS40 sunlamps than were 18-month-old animals. The relative contributions of tissue and host factors to this difference in susceptibility to carcinogenesis were analyzed by reciprocal grafting of skin between young and old animals, followed by repeated exposure of the grafts to UV radiation. More tumors developed in ear skin grafted to the middorsum of young recipients than in that of old recipients, regardless of the age of the skin donor. These ear skin grafts were more susceptible to tumor induction than were comparable grafts of back skin. When large areas of dorsal skin (16 cm2) were grafted to young adult mice, very old skin (greater than 2 yr) was more susceptible to tumor induction than skin that was 1 year old at the start of irradiation.