Changes in nerve fibers adjacent to transplanted VX2 carcinoma in rabbit tongue.

This study was undertaken to examine the relationship between malignant tumor tissue and nerve fibers using a transplantation model and nerve fiber strains. Most of the neural tissue, as well as the other host tissues, showed severe degenerative changes as the transplanted tumor grew. Furthermore, the degenerative changes were chiefly confined to the area anterior to the tumor. These changes were probably provoked chiefly by the compressive effects of the rapidly enlarging transplant. The results could possibly explain clinical symptoms such as paralysis or disturbances in the movement of the tongue observed occasionally in some patients with lingual carcinomas.