Abstract
In tissue cultures of the Crocker Mouse Sarcoma 180 a pronounced difference was found in the numbers of blood granulocytes which migrated from explanted fragments of tumors irradiated in vivo, in vitro, and of untreated controls.
The tissue culture method affords a ready means of detecting the presence of leucocytes in a given tissue. The polymorphonuclear leucocytes are the first cells to migrate from the explant into the surrounding plasma medium and, if present in large numbers, form cloud-like masses extending beyond the periphery of the explant within a few hours after incubation. This method was recently used as one of the means of determining the accumulation of leucocytes in various mouse tumors which had been injected with starch. 1
The tumors used were growths which had developed for about 10 days after subcutaneous inoculation. Their size varied from about 5 to 8 mm. in gross diameter. Sarcoma 180 is a rapidly growing tumor which spontaneously undergoes partial necrosis. In selecting fragments for tissue culture, care was taken to note whether they were from necrotic or from non-necrotic regions for comparisons with irradiated or non-irradiated specimens.
Studies were also made of a large number of histological sections of tumors removed at hourly intervals after irradiation. These were compared with untreated tumors of similar ages and also with tumors irradiated after extirpation.
Irradiation of the tumors by X-rays was done through the courtesy of the Memorial Hospital, New York City, according to the technique recently described by Sugiura. 2 Single dosages were given. They varied between 1500 to 2800 roentgen units of hard X-ray.
Untreated tumors of various ages grown in tissue culture showed very little evidence of outwandering granulocytes irrespective of whether the fragments used were from necrotic or non-necrotic regions.
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