Thyroid Carcinoma in the White Mouse: A Report

Abstract

Thyroid carcinoma of the white mouse is of rare occurrence. The series of cases reported by Slye, Holmes and Wells (1) and by Slye (2) are the only ones on record. This brief report of one additional case is, therefore, presented. In October, 1930, Dr. D. T. Fraser, of Connaught Laboratories, discovered that one of his stock of white mice bore a tumor about the size of a lima bean on the left posterior aspect of its neck and a tumor about the size of a split pea in the right groin. The mouse was given to this laboratory as a possible source of material for a new transplantable tumor. The animal was active and well nourished. Physical examination indicated that the masses were neoplastic rather than inflammatory, as they did not fluctuate and were only slightly movable beneath intact skin. The mouse was killed and aseptic dissection of the mass in the neck was made to secure transplant material. Precise anatomical relationships were not observed, since thyroid origin was not suspected. The main mass of the tumor occupied the posterior aspect of the neck and tumor was not observed in the normal thyroid site. The tumor in the groin was subcutaneous in position, roughly spherical in contour, and about 0.3 cm. in diameter. It was removed for histologic examination. The abdominal and thoracic viscera did not present macroscopic evidence of metastases.