The incorporation of 65Zn in mammary tumours and some other tissues of mice after injection of the isotope

Abstract

Distribution of Zn65 in mice with spontaneously occurring mammary tumors and in non-tumor-bearing mice was studied at various intervals after a single intraperitoneal injection of a Zn65-containing zinc-glycine complex. The tumor tissue had a small but statistically significant higher Zn65 content (mg tissue N) than had "normal" (apparently non-malignant) mammary gland tissue of the same mouse at 1, 3, 7 and 14 days, but not at 3 hours, after injection of Zn65. Mean tumor values 1, 3 and 7 days after the injection were about twice those for normal mammary gland tissue. "Normal" mammary gland tissue from injected tumor-bearing mice generally contained a little less Zn65 than did the corresponding tissue from non-tumor mice, but the difference was not statistically significant. The Zn65 contents of the blood, liver, kidney, lung and skin of the tumor-bearing mice were not statistically different from corresponding values obtained with normal mice.