Abstract
Summary
1. Two to 5 days after intraperitoneal inoculation of 10,000 (in one series—50,000) free sarcoma-37 cells from peritoneal fluid, several series of CFW mice were treated with a single intra-peritoneal injection of 0.2 to 0.44 mc of colloidal radioactive gold. Control mice remained untreated or were treated with inactive (decayed) gold preparations.
2. On 3 consecutive days after treatment, specimens of peritoneal fluid were withdrawn by exploratory puncture from treated and control mice. Stained smears from these specimens revealed the absence of tumor cells or cytological abnormalities therein in gold treated mice, while in controls the tumor cells were numerous and showed high proportion of mitoses. The non-viability of morphologically alterated cells was demonstrated by their inability to multiply or even to survive after their transfer into new mice.
3. Ultramicroscopic colloidal gold particles mixed immediately after injection with the peritoneal fluid became condensed, after 24 to 48 hours, into dot-like particles in the cytoplasm of macrophages and during the following days into coarse clumps. The macrophages loaded with gold particles maintained their structural and functional integrity; lymphocytes and polymorphonuclears were partially and temporarily destroyed by radiation effect.
4. It is concluded that in the cellular peritoneal exudate from mice inoculated i.p. with S-37 cells, the tumor cells were highly sensitive to small amounts of radiation well tolerated by the mice themselves while macrophages showed very high resistance to the same agent. Thus, the complete destruction of free tumor cells in the peritoneal cavity of the mice may be described as a selective radiotherapeutic effect of radioactive colloidal gold.
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