Endoscopic detection of experimentally induced colonic neoplasms in guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus)

Colonoscopic examination was performed daily on 18 normal guinea pigs for 7 weeks and on 27 guinea pigs after 24-35 weeks of biweekly intrarectal instillation of the chemical carcinogen methylnitrosourea. Four normal guinea pigs died during the first 2 weeks of the study, two from colonic perforations and two from cecal bloating due to excessive air insufflation. The other 14 normal animals remained clinically healthy and had no gross abnormalities at the end of the 7-week study. Colonic tumors were detected by colonoscopy in five of seven treated guinea pigs that had grossly visible nodular tumors on the mucosal surface of surgically resected colonic tissue. In another treated guinea pig, a tumor was detected by colonoscopy which was not confirmed grossly. In an additional two treated guinea pigs, tumors were visualized by colonoscopy which could not be demonstrated in surgically resected tissue because of their inaccessible location within the pelvic canal. At necropsy, these latter two guinea pigs had nodular, mucosal growths in the pelvic portion of the colon as indicated by colonoscopy. Microscopically, an additional 13 cases of colonic neoplasms were identified in the resected colonic tissue without gross or colonoscopic evidence of intralumenal nodular growth.