EFFECT OF PROGRESSIVE NEOPLASTIC GROWTH ON DECARBOXYLATION OF DL-[1-C-14]ORNITHINE BY LYMPHOCYTES FROM C3H-HE TUMOR HOSTS

  • 1 January 1978
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 38  (8) , 2253-2258
Abstract
The reactivity of normal and tumor host lymphocytes incubated with normal serum or with serum or malignant ascites fluid from tumor hosts was measured by the ability of the lymphocytes to synthesize ornithine decarboxylase after phytohemagglutinin stimulation. Each of 3 tumors tested (a solid fibrosarcoma, an ascites mammary carcinoma and an ascites ovarian carcinoma) caused increasing unresponsiveness in the lymphocytes of mice with progressing syngeneic neoplastic growth. The sera and particularly the malignant ascites fluids from mice given implants of the ascites cancers became progressively inhibitory to the activation of lymphocytes from tumor hosts and from normal mice. The serum from mice carrying s.c. implants of the fibrosarcoma enhanced the activation of lymphocytes from tumor hosts and from normal mice during early tumor growth before it also became inhibitory.