[Passive transfer of "Corynebacterium parvum" anti-tumour protection by stimulated peritoneal cells ]

A partial anti-tumour protection can be induced by transfer of peritoneal cells from mice pretreated with Corynebacterium parvum, in the two experimental tumours studied: a mammary carcinoma syngeneic to C3H mice and a lymphosarcoma syngeneic to XVII mice. This protection is abolished by heating the peritoneal cells at 70 degrees C for 30 min, by a 2,200-rad irradiation or by a non-lethal irradiation of the recipient mice. Transfer of normal peritoneal cells did not produce any anti-tumour protection in C3H mice but induced the same effect as stimulated cells in XVII mice. The difference in these results could be explained by the routes of injection of peritoneal and tumour cells: intraperitoneally in C3H mice and intravenously in XVII mice. It cannot be excluded that the protective effect induced by the injection of the stimulated peritoneal cells could be produced by the anti-tumour activity of the transferred C. parvum phagocytized by these cells.