Two different types of concomitant resistance induced by murine tumors: morphological aspects and intrinsic...

Concomitant resistance (CR) is the phenomenon according to which a tumor-bearing host inhibits the growth of a secondary implant of the same tumor at a distant site. Confirming and extending previous results of our laboratory, histological studies have revealed that two temporally separate peaks of CR can be detected throughout tumor evolution. The first peak induced by immunogenic small tumors, in euthymic but not in nude mice, is associated with extensive necrosis of the secondary tumor implant and a profuse infiltration of polymorphonuclear granulocytes and mononuclear cells resulting in its final destruction; these features correspond to a typical immunological rejection. The second peak of CR induced by both immunogenic and non-immunogenic large tumors, in euthymic as well as in nude mice, is characterized by a dormant tumor stage with scarce or null mononuclear infiltration, associated with a significant reduction of tumor mitotic index and of the number of PCNA+ cells along with an increase in apoptosis and an arrest in S phase. In previous reports we suggested that a 1000 D serum fraction from mice bearing large tumors could be responsible for the induction of this dormant tumor stage. In this study tumor cells incubated in vitro with that serum factor mimicked the inhibition and cellular alterations observed in vivo in the secondary tumor inhibited by the second peak of CR. Moreover, the passive transfer of this factor by the intra-peritoneal (i.p.) route induced an in vivo inhibition of an i.p. tumor reproducing the image characteristic of the second peak of CR. This represents a direct proof that this serum factor can restrain tumor growth in vivo and that it is, most probably, the effector of the second peak of CR.