Radiation-Induced Mouse Liver Neoplasms and Hepatocyte Survival

• Published in: JNCI : Journal of the National Cancer Institute 1986-10, Vol.77 (4), p.933-939
• Main Authors: Di Majo, Vincenzo, Coppola, Mario, Rebessi, Simonetta, Bassani, Bruno, Alati, Teresa, Saran, Anna, Bangrazi, Caterina, Covelli, Vincenzo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal tumors. Experimental tumors; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; Experimental digestive system and abdominal tumors; Liver - radiation effects; Liver Neoplasms, Experimental - etiology; Liver Neoplasms, Experimental - genetics; Liver Transplantation; Male; Medical sciences; Mice; Mice, Inbred C3H; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Inbred CBA; Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced; Tumors; Whole-Body Irradiation
• ISSN: 0027-8874; 1460-2105
• DOI: 10.1093/jnci/77.4.933

Transplantation of hepatocytes from CBA/Cne mice into the fat pads of isogeneic recipients has been used for the quantitative in vivo study of cell survival and risk of transformation after x-ray irradiation (1–7 Gy). A survival curve for liver cells was generated in vivo with a D0 of 3.08 Gy and an extrapolation number not significantly different from 1. Data on liver tumor incidence in whole-body irradiated CBA/Cne and C57BL/Cne × C3H/HeCne (BC3F1) mice are also reported. A statistical analysis of trend in both cases proved a significant induction of tumors by x-rays mainly for doses above 2 Gy. The risk of transformation per surviving cell was estimated for both mouse strains. For CBA mice the data points suggested the presence of a linear component in the dose-effect curve at low doses, whereas for BC3F1 mice a quadratic expression appeared to provide a better description of the points from 1 to 6 Gy. The data of this study suggested that liver tumors can be induced by radiation in mouse strains with either a high or low spontaneous hepatoma incidence.