ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the occurrence of spontaneous colonic carcinoma and its demographic makeup in a long-standing 26-year-old cotton-top tamarin colony; this colony includes large numbers of imported cotton-top tamarins as well as colony-born progeny that also succumbed to this affliction. It provides basic information about the colon carcinoma that will enable researchers to study the cotton-top tamarin process in light of the almost identical disease in humans. Cotton-top tamarins were imported into the Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) colony beginning in 1965 in small numbers and continued until 1976 when the cotton-top tamarin was declared endangered; they were placed upon the endangered species list and ORAU's importation of cotton-top tamarin ceased. In summary, spontaneous colonic carcinoma develops in approximately 35% of adult cotton-top tamarin; the cancers usually develop from a flat epithelium, are nonpolypoid, and occur in association with an idiopathic ulcerative colitis.
