Morphology of experimentally induced tumors of the sympathetic nervous system in rats.

Seventeen tumors of the sympathetic nervous system were discovered in offspring of rats exposed in utero at a single dose of 80mg/kg of N-nitrosoethylurea at the day 16-19 of pregnancy, and then to constant light regimen. These tumors were classified as follows: benign--ganglioneuroma (six cases) and malignant--ganglioneuroblastoma (four cases) and neuroblastoma (seven cases). The most frequent location was in the sympathetic trunk in the mediastinum and in the retroperitoneal space. Morphological features of these induced tumors represent a model for similar neoplasms in humans in childrens' age.