Spontaneous osteogenic sarcoma in the rat.

A spontaneous osteogenic sarcoma of the spinal column (tail, sacrum and lumbar regions) with metastases to the lungs, kidneys and right ovary were found in a 15-month-old BHE rat. The literature on spontaneous osteogenic sarcoma in rats indicates that this tumour is rare (0.22 per cent), occurs in several strains and has no sex, age or site predilections; non-metastatic cases are more common than metastatic ones.