To develop a better animal model for studying the effects of the host environment in neoplasia, we injected various genetically well-characterized H-2 d RI strains of BXD mice with syngeneic breast cancer cells (TS/A) and monitored the growth of tumors over time. There was a marked difference in the growth of the implanted breast cancer cells among the 14 BXD RI strains, with 4 patterns of tumor development being observed: in type I, the implanted tumor cells grew rapidly in the first 2 weeks, necrosis of the tumors was observed and metastases to the intestinal lymph nodes and pancreas was observed, causing death; in type II, the implanted tumor cells grew slowly and attained a size after day 50 that required killing the animal, with tumor necrosis being rare and metastases absent; in type III, the implanted tumor cells grew initially but underwent a slow decline after 4 weeks; and in type IV, the implanted tumor cells failed to Characterization of the effect of the host environment on the development and progression of tumors has proven difficult due, in part, to the lack of informative models. The immune surveillance system, which is thought to play a key role in determining susceptibility or resistance to tumor growth, shows considerable variation among individuals. Although immunodeficient nude and SCID mice are useful tools for the characterization of the role of the host environment in the development and progression of human-derived tumors, 1,2 the lack of an intact immune system in these mice results in an incomplete picture of the potential mechanisms involved and their relative contribution to tumor growth. Comparative analysis of implanted syngeneic TS/A tumor cells in C57BL/6 mice, which are resistant to implanted tumors, and DBA/2 mice, which are susceptible, is a good model for the dissection of the host immune response to tumors but is limited by the lack of response diversity. [3][4][5] The genetically well-characterized BXD RI strain of mice was derived by intercrossing F 2 mice derived from DBA/2 and C57BL/6 mice for more than 20 generations to fix homozygous loci. These strains exhibit a broad spectrum of traits, including diversity in the types and intensity of the immune responses. 6 -12 The availability of these mice therefore presented an opportunity to develop an alternative model to analyze the mechanisms that determine the immune response to tumor cells. BXD mice have been used for genetic mapping of disease susceptibility 13,14 and for studying the development of the nervous system 15-17 and alcohol abuse. 6,18 Several investigators have recognized the advantage of using these mice to identify both MHCrelated and non-MHC-related genetic loci that affect the shaping of the repertoire and the function of the immune system. 7,13,19 -21 Waters et al. 22 utilized these mice to show that the genetic restriction involved in KLH antigen-specific proliferation maps to the mls gene on chromosome 1. Scalzo et al. 20 showed that the resistance of mice to lethal infection by MCMV is associated ...