[Autoantibodies in malignant tumors]

Autoimmune phenomena are to be referred to the possible immune reactions of the host organism in malignant tumours. By means of the indirect immune fluorescence method in 95 sera of patients with tumours and a control group 0f 30 blood donors was sought for autoantibodies against mitochondria, nuclear factors, smooth musculature, myocardium, delomorphous cells. In the blood donors in one case autoantibodies against the myocardium could be proved, the tumor group, however, revealed positive findings of autoantibodies in 25 patients, which are statistically significant (p < 0.05). In the individual groups of diagnosis the acute myeloic leukaemia, the IgG-plasmocytoma and the cervical carcinoma showed a highly significant positive proof reaction compared with the control. The titres lie in their highest values at 1 : 64, in most cases at 1 : 16 and 1 : 32 and speak for an accompanying reaction are epiphenomenon. Autoantibodies against mitochondria were in no case found against smooth musculature in all positive groups. Apart from the absence of antibodies against delomorphous cells in gynaecological tumours the differentiation of types of autoantibodies do not show a reference to kind of tumour and localisation. The proof of autoantibodies in malignant tumours should be used for the judgment of the immune state