Leukemia allotransplants in canine fetuses: influence of host age and immune responsiveness.
Myelomonocytic leukemia cells allografted prenatally in some developing purebred Beagle fetuses elicited tumors postnatally in some of the pups. The later in gestation that the inoculum was delivered, the less was the disposition to eventual leukemia, indicating that fetal host age at the time of grafting and tumorigenesis are correlated. The leukemogenic transplants may have grown because of fetal immunoinsufficiency or because they were tolerogenic in the developing immune system. Limited immunologic data for exclusion of the latter possibility are reported.
D000818:Animals; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000276:immunology*; D005865:Gestational Age; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D007942:Leukemia, Experimental / Q000276:immunology; D007951:Leukemia, Myeloid / Q000276:immunology*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation; D011247:Pregnancy; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous