Antigenicity of Sarcomata Undergoing Atrophy in Rats

Abstract

Occlusion of the blood supply of sarcomata which had grown for 10 to 11 days in susceptible rats resulted in atrophy of the treated tumors. Malignant tissue which had undergone atrophy owing to lack of an adequate blood supply for two to four days failed to grow when transplanted into susceptible rats. Subsequent implantations of viable sarcoma tissue failed to grow in 70 per cent of the rats injected with malignant tissue which had undergone atrophy for two days and in 100 per cent of the rats injected with tumor tissue which had undergone atrophy for three or four days. Atrophying tumor tissue resulting from this type of operation may be said to be antigenic (5); its transplantation into susceptible rats brought about the development of tumor-immunity in the recipients.