Abstract
Summary
The fact that estrogens and androgens are inactivated in the liver, served as the basis for studies on the effect of transplantation of the gonads to the spleen, which is in the portal circulation. Hepatic destruction of the gonadal steroids removes their normal inhibiting influence on the pituitary, permitting excessive secretion of gonadotrophin.
Implantation of the testis of an infantile rat into the spleen of an adult male castrate, resulted after 11 months in the development of a large tumor, bearing a striking resemblance to the granulosa cell tumor of the ovary produced by a similar method, previously reported. The cellular component apparently derived from the tubules and the interstitial cell mass in the testicular tumor, are indistinguishable from the granulosa cell and theca cell components, respectively, of the ovarian tumor. In addition, certain portions of the testicular tumor are reminiscent of the structure seen in arrhenoblastoma.
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