RICERCHE BIOMETRICHE SULLA CANCEROGENESI CUTANEA. III. AZIONE DELL'OLIO DI CROTON SULL'EPIDERMIDE IRRADIATA CON RAGGI X MOLLI.

Abstract

1) 350 mice of a genetically pure strain were irradiated on the skin with 1000 r of soft X rays. On a half of such animals a treatment with croton oil was undertaken, lasting 3 months; the other half was left without any further treatment. No neoplastic growth was observed. 2) A biometric analysis of the skin at different times has shown a thickening of the epidermis in both sets of animals but with different characters: in the solely irradiated epidermis a swelling of the cytoplasms is observed, whereas in the irradiated and croton-oil treated epidermis an increase of the nuclear bulk (besides the swelling of cytoplasm) and an increase in the number of cells are observed. The increase of the nuclear bulk appears as a rythmic growth. 3) The causes of the lack of the co-carcinogenic effect are discussed.