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The Virus-induced Papilloma-to-Carcinoma Sequence

I. The Growth Pattern in Natural and Experimental Infections^*

J. T. Syverton, M.D., H. E. Dascomb, M.D.^,, J. Koomen, Jr., M.D.^,, E. B. Wells, M.D.^, and G. P. Berry, M.D.

(From the Department of Bacteriology, the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York)

A study has been made of the growth pattern of naturally and experimentally induced papillomas on 594 rabbits kept for from several months to several years, without interference with the natural sequence of alterative changes. The growth cycle of the virus-induced lesions fell into three phases: proliferative, stationary, and involutionary. The termination of the natural growth pattern, which resulted in the regression and disappearance of the lesions or in malignancy followed by the death of the host, seldom occurred until after the lesions had been under observation for 6 months or longer. The employment of both domestic and cottontail rabbits showed that the rabbit host did not alter the immediate pathogenicity of the virus or of the tumor's growth pattern. A difference in host reactivity, however, was indicated by the early disappearance of the virus from domestic rabbit papillomas and by a somewhat decreased incidence of cancer in the cottontail rabbits.

^* This investigation was aided by a grant from the Jane Coffin Child's Memorial Fund for Medical Research.

Present address: Dr. Syverton, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis; Dr. Dascomb, Louisiana State University School of Medicine, New Orleans; Dr. Koomen, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester; Dr. Wells, Thorndike Memorial Laboratory, Boston City Hospital, Boston; Dr. Berry, Harvard Medical School, Boston.

Student Fellow in Bacteriology.

Received 2/27/50.