Three Different Types of Tumors in Salientia
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Three Different Types of Tumors in Salientia E. ELKAN (Group IX Laboratories, Shrod4ts Hospital, Watford, Herts. England) SUMMARY Three tumors of widely differing structure occurring in, Salientia (Amphibia) are described. They are: (a) a nephroblastoma, (b) an atypical facial papilloma or melano carcinoma, and (c) an epithelioma resembling ulcus rodens. The first two tumors oc curred in specimens of the South African claw-footed toad (Xenopus laevis D.), the third in a specimen of the common grass frog (Rana temporaria L.). A NEPHROBLASTOMAIN Xenopus laevis DAUDIN any of these animals falls ill, it hides in the most Neoplasms of various kinds are common in fish, inaccessible corner of the cage; many are, in any much rarer in reptiles, very rare in amphibians. case, nocturnal in their habits, and when their The first comprehensive review of the tumors de death is discovered, decomposition has usually ad scribed from cold-blooded animals was made by vanced to such a degree as to make further inves Luckéand Schlumberger (Balls [1] lists 68 relevant tigation impossible. Much interesting material is titles) in 1948—1949.Cohrs et a!. in their textbook lost in this way. Circumstances are a little more Pathology ofLaboratory Animak reviewed the liter promising in laboratories where less attention is ature up to 196g. Finally Balls (1), reporting on paid to the imitation of natural surroundings and six new cases in Xenopus, reviewed the literature more to the health of the animals. However, even up to 196g. The present paper gives a short decrip those departments which keep large numbers of tion of three types of tumors not previously seen frogs under constant close supervision have re in Salientia. ported few cases of true neoplasms in amphib The most common neoplastic tumor in frogs and ians. toads is still the Lucké (7) renal adenocarcinoma The tumor here described occurred in a fully which frequently occurs in the American leopard grown female specimen of Xenopus laevis D., the frog Rana pipiens and which has been shown to be South African claw-footed toad (Aglossa), of 1@0- transmissible (9) . All the other neoplasms seen in gm. weight, which had been kept in stock for the amphibians, and particularly in Salientia, are very performance of pregnancy tests for over a year. rare. The toad, originally imported from Cape Town, Embryonic blastomas—in particular nephro South Africa, was kept in a galvanized steel tank blastomas—are, according to Willis (f), commonly together with 59 other females of the same species, found in the pig, the rabbit, and the domestic fowl. and it yielded, during the period of its captivity, They are less commonly found in hares, rats, and correct results when used for these tests. None of mice. Thus far they have not been listed as occur the other toads sharing the tank showed any signs ring in poikilothermic animals. Their classification of disease, but the specimen in question attracted into renal teratomas and nephroblastomas depends the attention of the staff because, when it was on the type and the degree of differentiation the handled, a large firm mass could be palpated tissues present. Since they have thus far escaped through the abdominal wall. This toad was neither description in cold-blooded animals, we might be discolored in any way nor disfigured by hydrops, inclined to regard such a tumor as a rarity. In this symptoms which usually herald the start of any type of animal, however, such rarity may be more serious disorder in Xenopus. It was therefore killed @ apparent than real. Tropical and subtropical spe with per cent urethan. cies must be kept in heated cages either, like Appearances at post mortem examination.—A Xenopus, permanently submerged or, like most view of the abdominal viscera in situ after removal terrestrial species, in a warm, moist atmosphere. If of the anterior abdominal wall, the right ovary, ReceivedforpublicationMarch27,1968. and the right lobe of the liver, is presented in Fig 1641 Downloaded from cancerres.aacrjournals.org on September 25, 2021. © 1963 American Association for Cancer Research. 164@ Cancer Research Vol. f23, November 1963 ure 1. It varies little from that of true renal carci endothelium lining Bowman's capsule; ciliated noma seen before (6), and it seemed at first cuboidal epithelium lining the neck of the nephron; sight to be almost identical with the material high-columnar epithelium lining the convoluted published by Luckéand Schlumberger (14), with tubules; low-columnar epithelium and flask cells the only exception that, in the present case, the lining the collecting ducts (Fig. 6). Of all these tumor was much bulkier than those previously cell types only the cuboidal, nonciiated epithelium seen. Its retroperitoneal origin was obvious from appears in the sections (Fig. 7, B—D,F, G). In the fact that the inferior vena cava, the large in stead of the other cell types two, or perhaps three, testine, and the right oviduct were displaced yen new kinds of cells appear which are not found in trally. No trace of the right kidney could be found the normal aglossan mesonephros: behind the tumor even with the aid of a hand lens. 1. Undifferentiated renal blastema, occurring The left kidney was found compressed between the either in loose concentric rings (Fig. 7, A) or in tumor and the left lumbo-dorsal muscles, but it dense conglomerations in the place of glomerular showed no histological abnormality and was, ap capillary loops (Fig. 7, H). parently, fully functional. Both the liver and the 2. Another kind of undifferentiated tissue made spleen were found considerably congested and en up of large, clear cells with small nuclei and well larged to twice their normal size. Both ovaries defined cell walls. These cells are always seen to were atrophic and reduced to less than half their fill some kind of cavity partly or wholly. These normal bulk; but both fat bodies were found very cavities may be abortive Bowman's capsules (Fig. well preserved. These observations are at variance 4, Fig. 7, H). with those usually made in diseased toads where, if 3. High-columnar epithelium of the “palisade― the ovaries atrophy, the fat bodies do so as well. type. Here the nuclei are long and thin and lie so No metastases of the tumor were found any closely together that no cytoplasm can be seen where, nor could an invasion of abdominal veins between them (Fig. 7, C and G). The palisade cells be demonstrated. The tumor seemed to have are seen either to form the walls of an abortive grown, entirely by expansion, to its final size of tubule or to protrude, papillary fashion, into 4 X 5 X 3 cm., not invading any other organ but smaller and larger cystic spaces (Figs. 4, 5, and interfering severely with the abdominal circulation Fig. 7, G and H). and causing severe congestion in the portal circuit. Among these palisade cells there appear occa The neoplastic mass (Fig. 1) was firm and sionally larger, oval cells whose nuclei do not fill white, with an irregularly bulging surface of the the whole space available, leaving a clear gap of cauliflower type. Cross-section showed a few small cytoplasm between the nudeus and the cell wall darkly stained patches but presented no signs of (Fig. 7, D). The numerous cystic cavities, perhaps softening or degeneration. The whole tumor was representing attempts at the formation of Bow contained in a thin capsule which, in the right man's capsules, can be seen in every field (Figs. dorso-lumbar region, contained the compressed and 2, 5), and they are lined with all kinds of cu thinned-out right kidney. boidal epithelium. Their nuclei, too, vary greatly Histology.—Cellsin all stages of differentiation, in shape and size, and the palisade arrangement, obviously derived from the renal blastema, made though prevalent, is not always present (Fig. 7, E) up the bulk of the tumor. The stroma consisted of The two types of epithelial cell most typical of the a loose network of fibroblasts embedded in abun aglossan kidney, the ciliated columnar and the dant intercellular matrix which accepted periodic flask cell (Fig. 6), are not represented in the acid-Schiff stain as well as Alcian blue and muci tumor at all. carmine (Fig. 2). The nuclei, on the whole, stained more heavily Clear spaces within the stroma were filled with than normal with basic dyes. Mitotic figures were phagocytes containing fatty droplets (Fig. 3). In not seen. The tumor apparently grew slowly from spite of the extremely scanty vascularization of a small center of abnormal cells to its final size. the tumor no areas of overt necrobiosis were found. It was not malignant and pathogenic only insofar All parts of the tumor stained equally well and as it displaced neighboring organs, causing pres were obviously of good viability even when they sure atrophy of the affected kidney and extreme seemed to lie far removed from the nearest capil congestion of liver and spleen. The general histo lary vessel. logical picture of the neoplastic tissue is that of In the parenchyma every degree of epithelium ad infinitum repeated, but always abortive, at from the most primitive to the almost completely tempts at kidney formation. organized could. be seen. The normal epithelial ‘rhedevelopment of the normal mesonephros in' components ‘ofan aglossan nephron would be: Xenopus laevi@takes place between the 5th and Downloaded from cancerres.aacrjournals.org on September 25, 2021. © 1963 American Association for Cancer Research. E@&N—Tunwrs in Salientia 1643 58th day of development (Nieuwkoop and Faber a homogeneous layer of squamous cells (Fig.