Antibody Induction of Lymphocyte-Mediated Cytotoxicity against Human Transitional-Cell Carcinomas of the Urinary Tract

Abstract

Serum from a patient with transitional-cell carcinoma of the urinary tract, which induced lymphocyte-mediated cytotoxicity against the carcinoma, was studied to determine the active factor and characterize its mode of action. The active serum factor was an IgG immunoglobulin that induced cytotoxicity only in the presence of effector cells (lymphocytes) and did not require the presence of complement. Contact between the IgG and a tumor-associated antigen appeared to be required before cytotoxicity could be induced in the lymphocyte. The IgG induced lymphocytes from donors with and without transitional-cell carcinoma to become cytotoxic against cells derived from transitional-cell carcinoma of the renal pelvis, ureter, and bladder but not against normal adult or embryonic cells or against renal-cell-carcinoma cells. These characteristics indicate that the active serum factor is a lymphocyte-dependent antibody that is directed against an antigen associated with transitional-cell carcinoma. (N Engl J Med 291:637–641, 1974)