High incidence of mammary tumors in mice with inherited asplenia carriers for the nude gene

• Published in: Cancer research (Chicago, Ill.) Vol. 39; no. 5; pp. 1529 - 1533
• Main Authors: Lozzio, B B, Lopez, D M, Coulson, P, Lair, S V
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.05.1979
• Subjects: Animals; Antigens, Viral; Female; Genes; Heterozygote; Male; Mammary Neoplasms, Experimental - etiology; Mammary Neoplasms, Experimental - immunology; Mammary Neoplasms, Experimental - metabolism; Mammary Tumor Virus, Mouse - immunology; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Mice, Nude - genetics; Receptors, Steroid; Spleen - abnormalities; Spleen - physiology
• ISSN: 0008-5472

A colony of mice suffering from dominant hemimelia associated with agenesis of the spleen has been developed and characterized during the past 7 years. The hereditarily asplenic (Dh/+) mice have a very low incidence (9%) of spontaneous mammary tumors (SMT). Asplenic (Dh/+) females were mated with mice homozygous (nu/nu) for hereditary athymia (nude) having a BALB/c background. BALB/c females heterozygous for the nu gene and with spleen (nu/+,+/+) have a moderate incidence (12%) of SMT, whereas nu/+,Dh/+ breeders have a drastic increase in the incidence of SMT to 46% when bred under identical conditions. Since all parent strains have a very low incidence of SMT, it appears that the spleen agenesis is a major factor accounting for an earlier and higher incidence of SMT in hereditarily asplenic (nu/+,Dh/+) mice than in normal (nu/+,+/+) siblings. The SMT express mammary tumor virus antigen(s) and possess estrogen, progesterone, and glucocorticoid receptors. The SMT rapidly metastasize and kill the host within 30 to 45 days. The BALB/c asplenic mice with SMT represent a unique model relevant to human breast cancer and for study of the function of the spleen in the development of solid tumors in general and of SMT in particular.