Influence of Genetic Factors on the Induction of Mammary and Intestinal Adenocarcinomas in Inbred Syrian Golden Hamsters

INBRED lines of Syrian golden hamsters, Mesocricetus auratus auratus, respond to subcutaneous injection of polycyclic hydrocarbons^1,2 and to oncogenic viruses³ with varying rapidity and tumour incidence, which depend on genetic factors. We have investigated the inherited susceptibility or resistance of Syrian hamsters to the development of intestinal and/or mammary adenocarcinoma after the administration, by stomach tube, of 250 mg of 20-methylcholanthrene (MC) in corn oil three times a week (5 mg in 0.5 ml.) for 17 weeks. Thirty males and thirty females aged 90 days of nine inbred strains were used and, after the course of MC gavage, they were left until they looked ill and were then killed. Autopsies were done between 4 and 39 weeks after the last MC feeding or at age 34–69 weeks in seven BIO lines (Telaco, Bar Harbor, Maine) (Table 1). At least eleven males or eighteen females survived for at least 4 weeks after the last feeding. The incidence of their tumours is shown in Table 2.