Summary
The influence of estrogen on mammary carcinogenesis was studied in female Sprague-Dawley rats ovariectomized at the age of 36 days and given injections of 17β-estradiol (group I:0, II:1, III:10, IV: 100, V: 1000 μg/2 days) between the ages of 36 and 250 days and a single oral dose of 20 mg of 7,12-dimethylbenz(a) anthracene (DMBA) at the age of 50 days. No palpable mammary carcinomas were detected up to the age of 135 days. At the age of 135 days, each group was divided into two subgroups (a and b). Rats of the second subgroup (Ib, IIb, IIIb, IVb and Vb) were given additional injections of progesterone (P; 4 mg/2 days) between the ages of 135 and 250 days. At the age of 250 days, the incidence of mammary carcinoma was significantly higher in rats from group IIIb than in groups Ib and IIIa, and that in group IVa was also higher than in group Ia. The incidence in group IVb was significantly lower than in group IVa. The carcinomas in group IIIb were palpable papillo-tubular adenocarcinomas and those in group IVa were secretory micro-adenocarcinomas. These results indicate that the induction of mammary carcinomas byDMBA is totally inhibited by ovariectomy and/or high doses of estrogen, but that mammary carcinomas are initiated byDMBA under hormonal conditions in which suitable levels of estrogen are present. They also suggest that the growth ofDMBA-induced mammary carcinomas in the rats from group III were accelerated by additional injections of P and that those in rats from group IV were inhibited by additional P. The mammary glands of 50-day-old rats in groups III and IV contained more terminal ducts and terminal ends buds or lobules with BrdU-positive cells than those of rats in other groups.
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Ohi, Y., Yoshida, H. Influence of estrogen and progesterone on the induction of mammary carcinomas by 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene in ovariectomized rats. Virchows Archiv B Cell Pathol 62, 365–370 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02899705
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02899705