Pulmonary neoplasms produced by methyl-cholanthrene in the white Pekin duck.

Many neoplasms have occurred in the respiratory tract of white Pekin ducks following one intratracheal injection of methylcholanthrene suspended in a 1.0 per cent aqueous solution of polysorbate 80. No tumors occurred when only polysorbate was injected. The histologic type of the tumors varied. Some were neurofibromas, and others were ganglioneuromas, hemangiomas, squamous cell-like carcinomas, adenocarcinomas, whereas still others were unclassified types of neoplasms. Frequently a single tumor showed a variety of histologic patterns. No metastases occurred. The first tumor was found 56 days after the injection of the carcinogen. Fluorescence studies showed the distribution of methylcholanthrene in the respiratory tract. Methylcholanthrene crystals persisted in the tract for long periods. This technic appears to be very satisfactory for the production of neoplasms in the respiratory tract of the duck.