Y. Oghiso et al., DIFFERENTIAL INDUCTION OF BONE AND HEMATOPOIETIC TUMORS IN C3H MICE AFTER THE INJECTION OF PU-239 CITRATE, Journal of radiation research, 35(4), 1994, pp. 236-247
Although alpha-emitting plutonium is easily distributed in the skeleto
n via circulation and subsequenlty induces bone tumors, there is littl
e evidence that hematopoietic neoplasias are highly induced even thoug
h bone marrow stem cells are irradiated internally by alpha particles.
We injected groups of female C3H strain mice with doses of Pu-239 cit
rate from 500 to 10000 Bq to investigate the dose-related spectrum of
tumor types induced during a lifetime. Survival time was reduced strik
ingly in all the injected mice due to much earlier induction of bone a
nd lymphoid tumors as compared to the control animals that showed a va
riety of soft tissue tumors after a longer period of survival. Inducti
on of osterosarcomas was dose-dependent, being maximal in 70% of the a
nimals that received a mean skeletal dose of 10 Gy or less, but was 48
% or less at 20 Gy or more. Non-thymic lymphomas accompanied by lympho
cytic leukemia were observed in only 4-6% of the animals that received
a dose of 10 Gy or less whereas it was maximal in 17-19% at 20 Gy or
more. In contrast, there were no bone tumors in the control animals, r
ather thymic lymphomas or histiocytic lymphomas were found very late i
n 20% and other soft tissue tumors, including lung, liver and ovary tu
mors, were noted in 60%. Neither myeloid leukemia nor other myelogenou
s neoplasias were found in the control and Pu-239-injected animals tha
t received a mean skeletal dose of 3 Gy or more. These results indicat
e that the differential induction of bone tumors and hematopoietic tum
ors in mice depends on the dose range and the time after the injection
of plutonium.