Transplacental effects of ethylnitrosourea precursors ethylurea and sodium nitrite in hamsters.

Four simultaneous dosages of the ethylnitrosourea precursors, ethylurea and sodium nitrite, were administered intragastrically to pregnant hamsters at 100 mg/kg and 50 mg/kg respectively, from the 12-15th days of pregnancy. The treatment induced multiple neurogenic tumors of the peripheral nervous system in the offspring. Female progeny developed a greater incidence and multiplicity of peripheral nervous system tumors with significantly shorter latencies than males, thus establishing evidence that the tumors were age and sex dependent. The tumors presented varied morphological patterns and upon transplantation, grew regularly, exhibiting their malignant nature. The possible influence of estrogenic hormones on the development and growth of peripheral nervous system tumors and comparative aspects of the relationship between prenatal and postnatal carcinogenesis with regard to the ensuing tumor spectra as a consequence of exposure to the same chemical agent, are discussed.