A Search for Mutations that Affect Susceptibility to Breast Cancer
Abstract
The purpose of this project was to search for mutations that affect susceptibility to breast cancer by screening the progeny of specially-bred mice. The male parent in each case had been treated with ethylnitrosourea (ENU) in the hope of inducing mutations. The female parent was homozygous for the c-neu oncogene under the control of the mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) promoter. In previous experiments, female mice that carry the MMTV-neu gene expressed a very high frequency of breast cancer after pregnancy and lactation, which are known to activate the MMTV-neu oncogene. After screening the progeny of 68 treated males, no mutations that affect breast cancer were identified, although mutations that affected other organ systems occurred. However, the major finding of the study was related to one of the control strains. The MN-lO strain carries the MMTV-neu oncogene on the BALB background and had previously demonstrated fairly high susceptibility to breast cancer at our institution. In the current project, its breast cancer rate was very low, and we believe this can be attributed to changes in animal care conditions that occurred since the previous work. The significance of this study was the identification of an ideal mouse model for studying environmental effects on spontaneous mammary tumors.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA418657
Entities
People
- David L. Gasser
Organizations
- University of Pennsylvania