Serum therapy for radiation-induced impairment of immune resistance to metastasis

The use of serum transfusion to remedy radiation-induced damage to established antitumor resistance was investigated in female C3H mice. The mice, which had been actively immunized against a syngeneic mammary carcinoma, were injected i.v. and s.c. with suspensions of cells from the same tumor and were then given 300 R extensive-field irradiation to the abdomen two times. Tumor cells implanted outside the irradiated area grew better in irradiated mice than in unirradiated controls. Under these experimental conditions, protection could be transferred to radiation-impaired hosts with several injections of cell-free immune serum. Transfers of normal serum provided a detectable but low degree of protection. The corrective effect of serum transfers to radiation-impaired hosts was clearly expressed against pulmonary tumor growth (i.v. challenge), provided the transfusions were started no later than the first day after the injection of the tumor cells. Serum transfusions were ineffective against the growth of tumors implanted s.c. Transfers of serum from hosts carrying large (15 mm) s.c. tumor implants had a negative effect on the resistance of irradiated recipients. The results indicate that humoral resistance factors, both normal and immune, may act against metastatic spread of solid tumors.