Influence of viral infections on body weight, survival, and tumor prevalence of B6C3F1 (C57BL/6N × C3H/HeN) mice in carcinogenicity studies

Sendai virus (SV), mouse hepatitis virus (MHV), and pneumonia virus of mice (PVM) are common viral infections of mice. Influence of these viral infections on the prevalence of liver tumors, lung tumors, and lymphoma is of concern in chemical carcinogenicity studies. Body weight, survival, and tumor prevalence of B6C3F1 mice with and without viral infections in 33 male and 34 female untreated control groups and 32 male and 32 female low- and high-dose groups of 2-year chemical carcinogenicity studies were evaluated. In male mice, the SV infection was associated with significantly (p < 0.05) higher survival of control, low-dose, and high-dose groups, and higher prevalence of liver tumors and lymphoma. The increases in tumor prevalence are possibly due to an increase in the survival of male mice that had SV infection. However, when interlaboratory variability and time-related effects were taken into account, the number of significant effects was consistent with the expected false-positive rate inherent to the statistical procedures. The MHV and PVM infections did not cause consistent changes in body weight, survival, and tumor prevalences in the control and chemical treatment groups of male mice. Viral infections did not cause consistent increases or decreases in body weight, survival, or tumor prevalence in the control and chemical treatment groups of female B6C3F1 mice.