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Naturally occurring canine transmissible venereal tumors of genital organs in mature and regressive stages from 6 dogs were examined by transmission electron microscope. The tumor cells at the stage of maturation were comprised of large round and ovoid cells with prominent nuclei and nucleoli, a few spindle-shaped cells, and irregularly shaped cells. The mature round cells were characterized by the presence of a central ovoid to irregularly round nucleus with a large eccentric nucleolus, vesicular endoplasmic reticulum, round to oval swollen mitochondria with few cristae, Golgi’s apparatus, and plasma membranes with numerous microvilli. As the tumor degenerated, the tumor cells were increased in the number of spindle-shaped, fibroblast-like and irregularly shaped cells, collagen bundles, and mainly lymphocytes, in contrast to those of the stage of maturation. Regressing tumor cells were characterized by the swelling and vacuolation of mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum, membrane-bound granules, lamellar complex, tubular structures, and dense bundles of collagen. It was suggested that transformation might occur in the course of tumor growth causing morphological change from the round to the fibroblast-like cells, and that there was the evidence of cell-mediated tumor cell lysis by lymphocyte infiltration.
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