Improvement of impaired leukocyte migration inhibition by thymosin in patients with head and neck squamous carcinoma.

In a preliminary study of the effects of SK-SD and thymosin on leukocyte migration inhibition in patients with squamous carcinoma of the head and neck, the cancer patients had significantly lower leukocyte migration inhibition of SK-SD than normal subjects. Thymosin increased the inhibition to SK-SD in the cancer patients to levels similar to those in normal subjects, and decreased the inhibition in normal subjects. These results confirm and extend the results of previous studies of the effects of thymosin in vitro, which show restoration of immune reactivity in patients with impaired cellular immunity and either no effect or a decrease in immune reactivity in subjects with normal cellular immunity. These combined observations provide a rationale for determining the clinical effects of thymosin in immunoincompetent patients with head and neck cancer and suggest that immunorestorative agents such as thymosin be used with caution in patients with normal cellular immunity.

Intracellular localization of tumor-associated antigens in murine and human malignant melanoma.

Cross-reacting tumor-associated antigens have been demonstrated to be present in the cytoplasm of melanocytes in malignant melanoma. We have utilized both the leukocyte migration inhibition and the lymphocyte stimulation assays to determine the intracellular location(s) of these antigens in both human malignant melanoma and B-16 murine melanoma. The results of both assays indicate that this antigen(s) is associated with the membranous organelles, particularly the melanin granules, and is not found in the soluble components of the cytoplasm, as suggested by other studies.

In vivo and in vitro measurements of the relationship of human squamous carcinomas to herpes simplex virus tumor-associated antigens.

An additional 244 unfiltered sera have now been studied in a series of controlled, coded tests to determine the relationship of squamous carcinomas of the head and neck and cervix to the presence of complement-fixing antibodies to herpesvirus-tumor-associated antigens (HSV-TAA) in both tumor-bearing and cured patients. Ninety % of sera from patients with squamous carcinomas had antibodies to HSV-TAA, in contrast to 11% of sera from patients with nonsquamous cancers and 4% of sera from noraml individuals. The temporal relationship of Stage 1 laryngeal carcinomas suggests that HSV-TAA appearance precedes the immune defects. An in vitro correlate of the previously demonstrated specific delayed hypersensitivity reactions in controlled skin tests of squamous carcinoma patients with HSV-TAA is reported. In leukocyte migration inhibition tests, the migration indices after incubation with HSV-TAA of peripheral blood leukocytes from patients with squamous carcinoma (x = 0.847) were in definite contrast to migration indices seen for normal leukocytes (x = 1.037) and patients with nonsquamous solid cancers (x = 1.03). Thus, these polypeptides elicit both humoral antibody response and cell-mediated reactivity.