Immunogenicity of cellular and acellular antigen preparations from a methylcholanthrene-induced mouse sarcoma.

Inbred mice were immunized with various cellular and subcellular preparations from a syngeneic, methylcholanthrene-induced sarcoma to induce transplantation immunity against a subsequent challenge of viable cells from the same tumor. Only with conventional immunization procedures using radiation-attenuated tumor cells or viable tumor cells in admixture with bacillus Calmette-Guérin was transplantation immunity obtained. Neither native soluble tumor extracts prepared using several extraction methods, nor cross-linked preparations of these extracts gave rise to transplantation immunity. With few exceptions, however, the immunizing preparations resulted in the production of tumor-specific humoral antibody. The manner in which tumor antigens are presented to the host as well as the experimental system (animal strain; tumor) used appear to play an important role in the development of transplantation immunity against tumors.