Hormone-dependent uterine sarcomas in GR mice

Abstract

Spayed GR mice treated with progesterone and estrone develop mammary lumors within 3 weeks. The present paper demonstrates that uterine sarcomas develop in a high percentage of those animals that survive 17 weeks of hormone treatment. The growth of the tumors is hormone dependent, and estrogen as well as progesterone receptors were demonstrated in the tumor tissue. Tumor cells were cultivated in monolayer culture. After subcultivation the cells retained their hormone dependence as tested by retransplantation in vivo. The uterine tumors in the GR mouse are suggested as a supplementary model to the widely used mammary tumors to investigate steroid hormone action on tumor growth.