Effect of immunosuppression on the growth of six murine tumors.

Mice have been immunosuppressed with cyclophosphamide, cortisone-acetate, irradiation, or Ehrlich ascitic fluid (EAF) and then grafted with Ehrlich tumor or with one of the following strain-specific tumors: thymoma, methylcholanthrene-induced fibrosarcoma, B-16 melanoma, lymphatic leukaemia, and myeloid leukaemia. Immunosuppression of the host influenced very differently the growth of transplanted malignancies. The growth of thymoma and of Ehrlich tumor was regularly enhanced. The growth of fibrosarcoma and of melanoma, on the other hand, was retarded in mice pretreated with EAF and X-rays, or remained unchanged in mice pretreated with drugs. Leukaemia growth was not influenced by any immunosuppressive treatment; the only exception was enhanced growth of lymphoid leukaemia in animals pretreated with EAF. Thus different tumors grew differently in animals immunosuppressed by the same immunosuppressive agent, while different immunosuppressive treatment changed the growth of one particular tumor always in the same way. From this we concluded: (1) there is no rule as to how immunosuppression of the host will influence tumor growth; and (2) the way in which the malignant growth will be changed depends mainly upon the type of the tumor and probably not very much upon the type of immunosuppressive treatment.