Mesenchymoplasty

MESENCHYMOPLASTY, a term introduced by G. Koritsky to denote the process of development of mesenchyme from epithelium, which is observed in the animal organism under various conditions and particularly in the formation of cancerous tumors; a similar meaning is attached to the term desmoplasia (see), used by Kromayer, M. S. Milman, and Krompecher. All these authors view the development of cancer as a pathological process, the essence of which consists in the formation from epithelium of non-epithelial tissues of various characters, with the final form in this development being connective tissue according to Kromayer, and mobile mesenchymal cells according to G. Koritsky. The authors support their views with facts of the autochthonous development of the connective tissue stroma of cancer from the cancer cells themselves, as well as the existence of such tumor forms where the process of malignant development begins with the formation of cancerous tissue from epithelium and ends already with a sarcomatous form of the tumor. Such are the carcinosarcomas and Krompecher's basalomas. With this ability of cancerous tissue to transform into normal connective tissue (Kromayer) and mobile elements of mesenchyme (Koritsky), the authors associate the possibility of curing cancer both spontaneously and under the influence of those factors which accelerate the development of cells (radium, X-rays, etc.). In recent times these views have received confirmation from M. Borst, who showed that when the epithelium of the skin is acted upon by tar, results are obtained which can be characterized as the transformation of the epithelium of an adult animal into connective tissue and blood vessels.