The use of antifibrin antibodies for the destruction of tumor cells

Summary

The transplantable methylcholanthrene-induced sarcoma (MC-D) in strain 13 guinea-pigs was used to test the hypothesis that tumor cells growing within a fibrin matrix could be destroyed by an immunologically specific strategy involving an indirect cell-mediated immune reaction. The experimental design consisted of two steps: (1) in vivo fixation of anti-guinea pig fibrin antibodies (AGFA) on the fibrin matrix enmeshing the tumor cells, and (2) the reaction between AGFA fixed to the fibrin matrix and lymphoid cells from syngeneic animals sensitized to xenogeneic immunoglobulins isotypic with AGFA. Indeed, tests with ⁵¹Cr-labelled lymphoid cells yielded evidence for the localization of these sensitized lymphoid cells within the fibrin lattice when the latter was coated with AGFA. Moreover, significant tumor growth suppression (P<0.01) was achieved in guinea-pigs that had received rabbit or goat AGFA intravenously and lymphoid cells from syngeneic guinea-pigs sensitized to a state of cell-mediated immunity to rabbit or goat IgG by the subcutaneous route. On the other hand, the administration of the antibodies or of the sensitized cells alone did not affect the growth of the tumor. Preliminary results suggest that peritoneal exudate cells may have an important role in the success of this strategy for tumor cell destruction.