SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPIC STUDY OF PRECANCEROUS and CANCEROUS PANCREATIC LESIONS INDUCED BY N‐NITROSOBIS (2‐OXOPROPYL) AMINE IN SYRIAN GOLDEN HAMSTERS

Sequential alteration of Syrian golden hamster pancreatic ducts and ductules was investigated by scanning electron microscope during and subsequent to 10 weekly subcutaneous injections of N-nitrosobis (2-oxopropyl) amine (BOP). By examining surface morphology of ductal cells and resin casts of the secretory branches arising from the common duct, a series of lesions ranging from slight derangement of the luminal dimensions and loss of cilia to marked projections of “finger-like” processes accompanied by pleomorphism at the cellular and microvilli levels and increase in numbers of goblet cells could be established. A ductal histogenesis is proposed on the basis of the present scanning electron microscopic and earlier light microscopic findings. ACTA PATHOL. JPN. 36: 1359–1366, 1986.