Spontaneous histiocytic sarcoma with possible origin from the bone marrow and lymph node in Donryu and F-344 rats

Ninety-five male and 96 female Donryu rats reared up to 120 wk of age and 244 male and 243 female F-344 rats used as untreated controls in 5 carcinogenicity studies were examined histopathologically to clarify the primary site of histiocytic sarcoma. Histiocytic sarcoma in Donryu rats was observed in 5 of 95 (5.3%) males and 4 of 96 (4.2%) females. In F-344 rats, 4 of 244 (1.6%) males and 3 of 243 (1.2%) females had the neoplasms. Histologically, sarcomas consisting of large pleomorphic histiocytic cells were seen in the bone marrow, liver, lymph node, spleen, and lung. Among 16 sarcomas observed, 15 had neoplastic lesions in the bone marrow, and 1 F-344 rat had the lesions only in the lymph nodes. Eleven (6 F-344 rats and 5 Donryu rats) of the 15 cases had the lesions in the liver, and 4 Donryu rats had no lesions in the liver but lesions in the lymph node and/or spleen, except for 1 case where the sarcoma occurred only in the bone marrow. Among the 11 cases with the lesions both in the liver and bone marrow, neoplastic lesions were found also in the lymph node, spleen, and/or lung, but the severity of neoplastic proliferation of these organs was not so marked as that in the bone marrow except for 2 cases. Although histiocytic sarcomas in rats are considered to originate from the liver, peritoneum, or subcutis, the present results strongly suggest that some histiocytic sarcomas in Donryu and F-344 rats may also originate from the bone marrow and lymph nodes.