Abstract
IMMUNE responses often delay or prevent tumour induction by chemical carcinogens and oncogenic viruses1–9. Immune deficits, particularly of cellular immune responses, result in an increased frequency of neoplasms or a shortened latent period or both, and there is evidence10–12 for a delayed but distinct decrease in immune reactivity to some antigens with advancing age after the removal of the thymus, even in the adult, which emphasizes that the thymus has a continuing influence on immunological responses throughout life. No systematic study has been reported of the effect of induced immune defects (by neonatal thymectomy or by antilymphocyte serum, for example) on the frequency of spontaneous neoplasms of old age. We present the results of the influence of early thymectomy on the frequency of spontaneous neoplasms of several types in two groups of mice.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Miller, J. F. A. P., Grant, G. A., and Roe, F. J. C., Nature, 199, 920 (1963).
Trainin, J., Linker-Israeli, M., Small, M., and Borato-Chen, L., Intern. J. Cancer, 2, 326 (1967).
Kirshstein, R. L., Rabson, A. S., and Peters, E. A., Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med., 117, 198 (1964).
Defendi, V., and Roosa, R. A., in The Thymus (edit. by Defendi, V., and Metcalf, D.), 121 (The Wistar Institute Press, Philadelphia, 1964).
Allison, A. C., and Law, L. W., Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med., 127, 207 (1968).
Law, L. W., Cancer Res., 26, 551 (1966).
Law, L. W., Ting, R. C., and Leckband, E., Proc. US Nat. Acad. Sci., 57, 1068 (1967).
Allison, A. C., and Taylor, R. B., Cancer Res., 27, 703 (1967).
Law, L. W., Cancer Res., 29, 1 (1969).
Metcalf, D., Nature, 208, 1336 (1965).
Taylor, R. B., Nature, 208, 1334 (1965).
Miller, J. F. A. P., Nature, 208, 1337 (1965).
Crowle, H. J., and Hu, C. C., Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med., 127, 190 (1968).
Heston, W. E., Deringer, M. B., and Dunn, T. B., J. Nat. Cancer Inst., 16, 1309 (1956).
Dunn, T. B., in A Symposium in Mammary Tumours in Mice (edit. by Moulten, F. R.), 13 (Amer. Assoc. Advance Sci. Publication No. 22, 1945).
McIntire, K. R., and Law, L. W., J. Nat. Cancer Inst., 39, 1197 (1967).
Martinez, C., Nature, 203, 1188 (1964).
Law, L. W., Nature, 205, 672 (1965).
Lavrin, D. H., Blair, P. B., and Weiss, D. W., Cancer Res., 26, 929 (1966).
Morton, D. L., Proc. Amer. Assoc. Cancer Res., 5, 46 (1964).
Morton, D. L., Miller, G. F., and Wood, D. A., J. Nat. Cancer Inst., 42, 290 (1969).
Vaage, J., Nature, 218, 102 (1969).
Dunn, T. B., J. Nat. Cancer Inst., 14, 1281 (1954).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
BURSTEIN, N., LAW, L. Neonatal Thymectomy and Non-viral Mammary Tumours in Mice. Nature 231, 450–452 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1038/231450a0
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/231450a0
This article is cited by
-
Ablation of T cell immunity differentially influences tumor risk in inbred BD rat strains
Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy (2009)
-
Cancer immunoediting: from immunosurveillance to tumor escape
Nature Immunology (2002)
-
Possible pathways of circulation of human endogenous retrovirus similar to mouse mammary tumor virus
Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine (1995)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
