Abstract
During the early 1960s, experimentalists were becoming more concerned about the unique sensitivity of the conceptus to induction of cancer following in utero exposure.1,2 Reports appeared that linked in utero exposure to ethylnitrosourea (ENU) and the induction of brain tumors, schwanoma and gliomas in adult rat offspring, lung tumors in mice and Wilms (renal) tumors in opossum pups.3,4,5 Rice and associates’ demonstrated that ENU given during pregnancy could result in the induction of choriocarcinoma in the mother Patas monkey. These were among the first reports of chemical induction of tumors in both offspring and mothers following in utero exposure. Of special note is that ENU has a biological half-life in the body of approximately 8–10 minutes. These examples of the unique sensitivity of the unborn to not only structural anomalies but also tumorigenesis has further raised interest in understanding the malleability of the developing organism in response to therapeutic, occupational and environmental exposures.
| Original language | American English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Cancer and Pregnancy |
| Editors | Eytan R. Barnea, Eric Jauniaux, Peter E. Schwartz |
| Place of Publication | London |
| Publisher | Springer London |
| Pages | 131-145 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-1-4471-0707-1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2001 |