Canine transmissible venereal sarcoma: electron microscopic changes with time after transplantation.

The structure of canine transmissible venereal sarcoma (CTVS) has been examined from 14 to 71 days after implantation. During early growth, the tumour appears to be composed primarily of loosely arranged, round cells and a few fibroblast-like cells. As the tumour mass increases, the round cells become tightly packed with highly interdigitating plasma membranes. The number of irregularly shaped round cells and fibroblast-like cells increases with increasing tumour mass. Collagen and reticular fibres can be found in early tumours, frequently in association with the round cells, and in regions devoid of fibroblast-like cells. During tumour regression, cellular degradation is evident in fibroblast-like and irregularly shaped cells as well as round cells. The data suggest that transformation may occur in the course of tumour growth, causing morphological change from round to fibroblast-like cells, and that CTVS is an undifferentiated round-cell sarcoma capable of differentiation in a fibroblastic direction. Also present, primarily in tumour cells from newborn dogs, are cytoplasmic lamellar arrays and crystalline virus-like structures, both previously described in other forms of tumor cells.