Influence of sex hormones on kidney tumors induced in rats with N-butylnitrosourea.

A total 39 kidney tumors were induced by a continuous oral administration of N-butylnitrosourea (BNU) in 33 out of 204 rats of W/Fu strain and of 41 (W/Fu X ACI/N)F1 rats. No spontaneous renal tumors were observed among 66 males and 109 females of W/Fu rats which survived beyond the age of 19 months. Histologically, renal cell and mesenchymal types were commonly observed; 24 cases belonging to the former and 11 cases to the latter. Two cases of nephroblastoma were also encountered. There was no sex difference in renal tumorigenesis with BNU as a whole. Castration in both sexes was apparently inhibitory for kidney tumor development. Estrogenization of castrated rats either by syngeneic ovary graft or by repeated injections of estradiol benzoate enhanced tumor induction with BNU. Progesterone was not effective in restoring the tumor incidence in castrated rats. Distribution of histological types of tumors thus induced differed among the hosts with different hormonal conditions; in males the majority was renal cell type, whereas almost all mesenchymal tumor and nephroblastoma cases were found in intact females or estrogenized rats. BNU induced a variety of tumors in several organs including cerebral hemisphere, peripheral nerves, mammary glands, hematopoietic system, digestive tracts, and so on. However, such concurrence did not affect the development of renal tumors in the present study.