Quantitative measurements of humoral immune response in mice to a FANFT induced bladder tumor.

Using unfixed mouse bladder tumor cells (MBT) as target cells and a modified avidin-biotin-complex (ABC) method made it possible to detect a humoral immune response in C3H mice with growing MBT tumors. The rise of the serum levels is significant (p less than 0.005) when compared to control animals and correlates with the tumor size. Mice with recurrences after surgical removal of the primary tumor had significantly (p less than 0.05) higher serum values than animals without recurrence. Purulent or granulomatous inflammatory changes, muscle necrosis, growth of a lymphoma or an ovarian carcinoma did not significantly change the results (p less than 0.05). Injection of myeloma cells from a different strain of mice caused a minimal, but significant increase in the values when compared to controls (p less than 0.0001). However, the slope of the curve differed significantly (p less than 0.05) from that in mice with MBT tumors. Irradiated MBT cells or Corynebacterium parvum used as immunomodulators significantly increased the serum values (p less than 0.001). In the presence of a growing MBT tumor, however, the immunomodulation did not substantially falsify the results. The serum values were related to the corresponding tumor sizes.