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Experimental Studies of Factors Influencing Hepatic Metastases

XV. Effect of Neonatal Thymectomy¹

( Department of Surgery, Laboratory of Surgical Research, and Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

As a result of accumulating evidence which indicates that the thymus plays a vital role in the development of immunologic competence in mammals, and that this gland may be of importance in tumor growth, it was deemed worthwhile to evaluate the effect of neonatal thymectomy upon the development of experimentally induced hepatic metastases. In 2 strains of rats at various ages which exhibit variable susceptibility to transplantation of Walker carcinoma, it was observed that in no instance did thymectomy at birth result in subsequent augmentation of the incidence or growth of tumor. Rather, a significant reduction in metastases from that observed in intact controls resulted. This effect was not related to wasting, runting, or differences in the nutrition of animals. Since neonatal thymectomy in this species has been demonstrated to suppress the transplantation reaction, it is suggested, contrary to the general contention, that immunologic problems of organ and tumor transplantation may be different. A possible mechanism involving the pituitary gland to account for the metastatic suppression observed has been considered.

¹ Supported by USPHS Grants CA-03731 and 05716 and by American Cancer Society Grant P-142.

Received 2/16/65.