Effect of pre-operative blood transfusion on tumour metastases

The effects of allogenic blood transfusion on the subcutaneous growth and metastatic spread of two types of mouse tumour (B16 melanoma syngeneic to the C57/BL6 mouse and UV-2237 fibrosarcoma syngeneic to the C3H/He mouse) were studied. The growth rates of the primary tumour were not altered by transfusing the animals with allogeneic blood 14 days before tumour inoculation, but spontaneous metastasis from tumours formed at the inoculation site was augmented and accelerated for both tumour types. This effect was dependent on the strain of the blood donor, metastases of B16 melanoma being augmented by transfusion with blood from Balb/c animals, and UV-2237 fibrosarcoma by transfusion with C57/BL6 blood, but not by blood from other donor strains tested.