Effect of recombinant human interleukin 2 on the growth of a BALB/c sarcoma induced by Moloney murine sarcoma virus.

The effect of in vivo administration of recombinant interleukin 2 (rIL2) on the growth of a primary female BALB/c sarcoma induced by Moloney murine sarcoma virus (M-MSV) was studied. Although low-dose administration of (6,000 JU/mouse x 14 days) rIL2 had no effect on the growth of the tumors, high-dose (15,000-80,000 JU/mouse x 14 days) intraperitoneal inoculation of rIL2 induced tumor regression, dose-dependently. Tumors in mice which received 80,000 JU/mouse/day of rIL2 regressed completely 2 weeks after the initiation of treatment. The survival rates of the treated groups were significantly higher than those of the control group. A time course experiment disclosed that the effect of rIL2 was restricted only to the group in which rIL2 treatment started 8 days after the inoculation of M-MSV. The cytotoxic activity of regional lymph node lymphocytes from rIL2-treated mice was demonstrated against primary culture of M-MSV-induced sarcoma but not against syngeneic tumor induced by methylcholanthrene (Meth A). The effect of rIL2 was partially blocked by the administration of anti-IL2 receptor antibody. Immunohistochemical examination revealed that infiltration of Thy1.2+Lyt1+2- (helper/inducer subset) lymphocytes into the tumor tissue was prominent in mice which received high-dose rIL2. The results indicated that IL2 induced regression of M-MSV-induced sarcoma mainly through activation of IL2-receptor-positive helper T cells in the tumor tissues and of killer cells in the draining lymph nodes.