Primary tissue culture of spontaneously regressing flat warts.In vitro attack by mononuclear cells against wart-derived epidermal cells

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Abstract
Although tumors may be resolved due to host immune response, it is difficult to obtain direct evidence of this in man. Numerous flat warts, human papilloma virus type 3-induced papillomas, disappear systemically and simultaneously after showing inflammatory changes. Histologically, there is a dense cellular infiltration composed of lymphocytes and mononuclear phagocytes as identified by α-naphthyl acetate esterase staining in situ, the former being predominant in most cases. The primary tissue culture of such inflamed flat warts from ten cases revealed a proliferation of wart-derived keratinocytes as is the case with ordinary flat warts. However, in nine of the ten cases, massive mononuclear cells, most of which were T-lymphocytes, migrated out of the explants and began to attack these keratinocytes, inducing degenerative changes. These findings indicate that cell-mediated tumor cell destruction rather than antiviral reaction induces systemic spontaneous regression of multiple papillomas in man.