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The influence of cyclophosphamide on antitumor immunity in mice bearing late-stage tumors

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Abstract

Spleen cells from mice bearing late-stage methylcholanthrene-induced tumor did not show any tumor activity when mixed with tumor cells in Winn's assay. Treatment of these mice with cyclophosphamide (CY) induced a tumor-inhibitory activity in spleen, occurring on day 7 after treatment, reaching its maximum on day 11 and disappearing by day 21. This antitumor activity could not be induced in control, tumor-free or T-deficient tumor-bearing mice. CY-induced tumor-inhibitory activity was immunologically specific, and mediated by Thy-1+, L3T4−, Ly-2+ cells. Contrary to spleen cells from untreated tumor-bearing mice, spleen cells from CY-treated tumor-bearing mice did not suppress the antitumor activity of immune spleen cells in Winn's assay. However, in contrast to immune spleen cells, CY-induced tumor-inhibitory cells did not manifest antitumor activity when transferred systemically (i. v.) into T-cell-deficient tumor-bearing mice. Even more, spleen cells from CY-pretreated mice, harvested 7–15 days after the drug administration, partially suppressed the antitumor activity of concomitantly transferred spleen cells from specifically immune mice. Nevertheless, CY-pretreated mice manifested concomitant immunity, i.e. these mice exhibited higher resistance to a second inoculum of the same tumor than did nontreated mice or even mice with excised primary tumor.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology and Immunology, Zagreb University School of Medicine, Šalata 3, P.O. Box 978, 41 000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Filip Čulo & Toni Kolak

  2. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Zagreb University School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia

    Ivica Klapan

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  1. Filip Čulo
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  2. Ivica Klapan
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Čulo, F., Klapan, I. & Kolak, T. The influence of cyclophosphamide on antitumor immunity in mice bearing late-stage tumors. Cancer Immunol Immunother 36, 115–122 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01754411

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01754411

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