Inhibition of tumor growth in mice by sensitized rat lymph nodes.

The production of antibodies by homotransplants of living tissue or cells confers a type of immunity termed "adoptive" by Billingham et al. (~), to distinguish it from either an active or a passive immune response. Substantiation of the concept of this form of adoptive immunization is found in a recent review of the literature by Mitchison (6). Unless protected from destruction, however, such homotransplants are inevitably rejected, and the adoptive immunity they bestow is limited. The Millipore filter chamber developed by Algire (1) permits the survival of grafted tissue in a foreign host for prolonged periods of time. In the present report experiments were devised to utilize the Algire chamber to confer adoptive immunity to mice against subsequent inoculations of a lethal tumor. This was accomplished by enclosing within the chamber fragments of rat lymph nodes previously sensitized to the original mouse malignancy. The results indicate that in certain cases this has inhibited the growth of the tumor, and in others it has extended the life of some of the inoculated animals.