[Adjuvant chemotherapy of human colorectal adenocarcinoma after growth on mice with congenital thymic dysplasia ("nude"). 1. Experiments to test the feasibility of combined chemotherapy with VCR and 5-FU (author's transl)].

Five-week-old syngeneic, female BALB/c nude mice were injected i.p. with vincristine (VCR) and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) to determine the LD 20 of these drugs under spf-conditions. One hundred fifty animals were given dosages similar to those administered clinically, and a complete autopsy was performed on all nude mice. Whereas VCR caused splenic atrophy and regressive changes in the jejunal epithelium, the application of 5-FU was followed mainly by regressive changes in the transitional epithelium of the bladder, and 67% of the animals developed pneumonia. These pathohistological changes were also seen after a combined chemotherapy, and a temporary leucopenia was reversible. These experiments showed that chemotherapy of nude mice with VCR and 5-FU is possible provided they have been successfully xenotransplanted with human colorectal adenocarcinomas.