A transplantable induced melanotic tumor of the Syrian golden hamster.

The present paper records the availability of a new transplantable melanotic tumor in the Syrian golden hamster. A previous report (1) described the induction of multiple pigmented tumors in the Syrian golden hamster following the application to the skin of a single dose of the carcinogen 9,10dimethyl-l,2-benzanthracene. These tumors were sharply demarcated and located in the dermis and subcutaneous tissues. Histologically, they were predominantly composed of spindle-shaped cells containing large amounts of melanin in the cytoplasm. No métastaseswere seen even when tumors reached a size of more than 4 cm. in diameter. In the initial study, a footnote recorded the successful transplantation of one of these tu mors. This report records further transplantation studies and the characteristics of the transplanted tumors.