[Vaccine therapy of malignant tumors]

Vaccine therapy of neoplasms increases anti-tumor immune responses by enhancing the immunogenicity of tumor cells. One possible way of vaccine therapy is treatment with live apathogenic virus vaccines, in particular with Newcastle disease virus and other apathogenic avian viruses. Frequent regression of tumors and subjective improvement by vaccine therapy of patients may be explained by: a) infection of tumor cells by the virus and so enhancing their immunogenicity, b) activation of cells of the immune system, increased production of interferons, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and other cytokines, c) increased production of ACTH and beta endorphin by monocytes and lymphocytes resulting in an improvement in the general well-being. According to the previous results and the experimental data, extended trials with avian virus vaccines seem to be promising.