Summary
The effect of thymosin against tumor progression was examined in mice immunosuppressed by cytostatics or X-ray irradiation. When pretreated with cytostatic agents, such as 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) or BCNU, or by X-ray, and then inoculated with P388 or L1210 leukemias, mice died rapidly within a few days. In these systems, thymosin α1 given concomitantly with the cytostatic agents or after X-irradiation prevented rapid death and extended survival, although the mice eventually died with leukemia like normal mice inoculated with cells of the same tumor. Rapid death in the 5-FU-treated mice was also prevented by adoptive transfer of spleen cells from the donor mice if these had been treated with 5-FU plus thymosin α1, but not if they had received 5-FU alone. However, the restorative activity of the donor spleen cells was abrogated by treatment with anti-asialo GM1, but not by treatment with anti-Thy 1 or anti-mouse Ig serum, suggesting that the effector cells in the spleen are NK cells. In fact, thymosin α1, when given concomitantly with 5-FU or after X-irradiation, maintained the NK activity of spleen, which was damaged by treatment with 5-FU or X-irradiation alone. The present study indicates that thymosin α1 exerts a preventive activity against progression of leukemias at least in part through an effect on NK cells or their progenitor cells.
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Umeda, Y., Sakamoto, A., Nakamura, J. et al. Thymosin α1 restores NK-cell activity and prevents tumor progression in mice immunosuppressed by cytostatics or X-rays. Cancer Immunol Immunother 15, 78–83 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00199694
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00199694