A Histological Study of Peritoneal Carcinomatosis in the Laying Hen

Abstract

Numerous surveys on avian neoplasia provided important data on their incidence, occurrence, and frequency. These surveys were conducted in diagnostic laboratories (3,17,18), departments of pathology of Veterinary Schools (2,4,5,10,11,13,14), or flocks of various sizes under constant observation (9,16). A high incidence of intestinal carcinomatosis was observed in 1906 (7). Fujinami (8), in 1906, 1908, and 1910, and Joest and Ernesti (12), in 1915, were the first to state that these types of tumors were metastases of a primary ovarian neoplasm. Jackson (10,11) was of the same opinion but introduced the concept of tumor induction in an organ by heterogeneous malignancy and explained the metastases by transcelomic implantation. Belkin (1), Reitsma (20), and Eber and Malke (6) regarded most cases of peritoneal or intestinal carcinomatosis as having mesothelial origin. Carcinosarcoma is a term introduced by Bullis and Olson (2) in cases where the mesodermal elements, fibrous or leiomyomatous, are induced to proliferation or malignancy by the contiguous carcinomatous tissue. Large-scale slaughter of laying hens 18 months to 2 years old provided us with material which, inter alia, gave us data relevant to the much debated question of peritoneal carcinomatosis.