A NEW EXPERIMENTAL MODEL OF RAT HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA

Mukherjee N. Bhattacharya, Panda C.K.

To develop rat hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) within a short period of time, weaning rats were chosen due to comparatively high mitotic index of the liver and diethyl nitrosamine (DEN) and partial hepatectomy (PH) were used as initiating and promoting agents respectively. Within 30 weeks after initiation, premalignant liver lesions were observed in both groups with/without PH, whereas HCC was developed only in the rats where PH was performed. We have also analyzed the involvement of c-myc in the development of HCC and observed comparatively high c-myc expression in both premalignant and malignant liver lesions irrespectively to the PH.