Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0025202 (melanoma)
 69,561 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The results of various in vitro analyses indicate there is an active immune response against antigens associated with human malignancies. This immune response apparently can be augmented by nonspecific immunologic stimulates such as BCG. These agents are effective for destroying tumor when injected locally into intracutaneous disease but are not as effective for subcutaneous disease. Preliminary clinical trials indicated that immune stimulants are effective when administered systemically. The effect is only minimal for diseminated disease, but the therapeutic benefit is clearly augmented for patients with a minimal residual tumor burden, such as those patients with metastases to regional lymph nodes. Thus immunotherapy is a systemically active mode of therapy. Its toxicity is minimal, and it appears to be effective in a wide spectrum of the disease. However, immunotherapy is not effective for a large residual tumor burden; consequently it must be used in combination with other modes of treatment such as irradiation therapy or chemotherapy. Early experiences with BCG immunotherapy for malignant melanoma and C. parvum for oat cell carcinoma are encouraging. It is remarkable that a nonspecific immunologic stimulant does, in fact, have this effect. Immunotherapy experiments in animals suggest that in order to achieve maximal benefit. BCG must have close contact with tumor cells or must be combined with a tumor-associated antigen. If these principles are true for man, it would seem that improvements for nonspecific immunotherapy in human neoplasms would be further augmented if a tumor-related antigen could be extracted from human tumours and combined with a nonspecific immunologic stimulant.
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PMID:Immunotherapy of malignancies: current status. 17 34

Sera from cancer patients and healthy individuals, obtained from two independent sources, were examined for their abilities to react with herpes simplex virus-associated tumor antigens, AG-4 and NVA-TAA (nonvirion antigen-tumor-associated antigen). Both antigens were prepared by infection of HEp-2 cells with herpes simplex virus type 2, and all antigen-antibody interactions were measured by the micro-complement fixation test. Of sera from 16 patients with cancer of the uterine cervix, 81% (P less than 0.01) reacted with NVA-TAA, whereas 78% (P less than 0.001) of 18 sera examined reacted with AG-4. These values differed significantly from those for normal sera, of which 14% reacted with NVA-TAA and 13% with AG-4. Of sera for 8 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck or vulva, 75% (P less than 0.02) reacted with NVA-TAA, whereas 63% (P less than 0.05) reacted with AG-4. As a group, other cancers (including adenocarcinoma of lung, breast, ovary, and cervix; liposarcoma; sarcoma; melanoma; and carcinoma of the endometrium) did not differ significantly from controls in reactive patterns with AG-4 or NVA-TAA. These studies partly supported the reported preferential reactivity of AG-4 and NVA-TAA with sera of patients with squamous cell carcinoma, especially of the uterine cervix.
J Natl Cancer Inst 1976 Sep
PMID:Comparative diagnostic aspects of herpes simplex virus tumor-associated antigens. 18 98

Spleen cells removed from C57Bl/6J mice bearing a methylcholanthrene-induced fibrosarcoma (MC-16) demonstrate suppressed responsiveness of phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced mitogenesis as compared to non-tumorous mice. A similar depression of PHA-induced mitogenesis was observed with spleen cells from C3H/HeJ mice bearing syngeneic mammary adenocarcinomas (C3HBA). The administration of indomethacin, a non-competitive irreversible prostaglandin (Pg) synthesis inhibitor, (75 or 100 mug/mouse, IP) on an alternate day basis to groups of tumor-bearing mice of both strains, significantly enhanced immune cell responsiveness to mitogenic stimulation. The addition of indomethacin (10 mug/ml) to cultures of spleen cells from these tumor-bearing mice, as well as to DBA/1J mice bearing the Cloudman S-91 melanoma, enhanced spleen-cell responsiveness to mitogen-induced DNA synthesis by as much as 156%. Indomethacin administration in vivo or in vitro had no significant effect on mitogen-induced DNA synthesis of spleen cells from non-tumor-bearing animals. It is hypothesized that tumors, or tumor-cell antigens, increase Pg production of a population of spleen cells, and that the increased Pg content of the spleen may be important in controlling immune responsiveness in mice.
Int J Cancer 1976 Nov 15
PMID:Indomethacin enhancement of spleen-cell responsiveness to mitogen stimulation in tumorous mice. 18 13

Ninety-one human tumors, including various common carcinomas, low-grade malignant tumors, and benign tumors, were transplanted into athymic nude mice. Tumor take was confirmed histologically for 22 neoplasms at the initial transplantation, and 14 serially transplantable tumors were established, including some hitherto unestablished or unreported, such as lung and hepatic cell carcinomas. Among the 91 tumors were 21, 14, and 13 carcinomas of the lung, stomach, and breast, respectively. Transplantability was highest in lung carcinomas (10/21), followed by gastric carcinomas (2/14) and breast carcinomas (1/13). Morphology of original tumors was retained well in most transplanted tumors, but desmoplastic or scirrhous tumors, such as gastric and breast carcinomas, tended to become medullary with a decrease in amount of tumor stroma. The ability to produce mucin in gastric carcinomas or melanin in malignant melanoma was maintained in serially transplantable tumors. In addition, ectopic production of adrenocorticotropin and beta melanocyte-stimulating hormone continued in a transplanted small cell carcinoma of the lung. Preliminary results were obtained on hormone dependency of the transplantable breast carcinoma and on alpha1-fetoprotein in the transplantable hepatic cell carcinoma.
J Natl Cancer Inst 1976 Jun
PMID:Transplantation of human tumors in nude mice. 18 24

Antigens isolated from herpes simplex virus type 1, herpes simplex virus type 2, or cytomegalovirus-transformed hamster cells were tested against 66 sera from non-cancer individuals or patients with different types of cancer. By use of the microcomplement fixation procedure to quantify all antigen-antibody interactions, it was observed that 94% (p less than 0.001) of all sera from patients with squamous cell carcinoma reacted with antigens from herpes simplex virus type 1-transformed cells, while 84% (p less than 0.001) of the same sera reacted with antigen preparations from herpes simplex virus type 2-transformed cells. When sera from patients with adenocarcinoma, sarcoma, liposarcoma, and melanoma were tested against these antigens, there was no significant difference in their reactivity from sera of noncancer patients. When sera from all individuals (normal and cancer) were tested against antigens from cytomegalovirus-transformed cells, no significant reaction pattern developed. These studies are the first to describe the isolation of a reactive tumor-associated protein from herpes simplex virus-transformed cells.
Cancer Res 1976 Dec
PMID:Reaction of antigens isolated from herpes simplex virus-transformed cells with sera of squamous cell carcinoma patients. 18 20

Nineteen outpatients with malignant melanoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, who had surgical resection for complete removal of the tumor and no demonstrable metastases following surgery, were administered Levamisole (p.o., 150 mg per day, two days per week) and maintained on this dose for at least six months. Of this group, drug therapy was discontinued in four patients because of severe "flu-like" syndromes leaving a group of 15 patients for detailed analysis. T-lymphocyte percentages and levels, cAMP levels in the lymphocytes and a battery of skin tests for recall antigens were evaluated following surgery and at various intervals during immunotherapy. Patients who responded well to the treatment showed increased levels of T-lymphocytes and increased cAMP levels, whereas non-responders had low T-cell levels and low cAMP levels. Also positive skin test reactions were observed in most patients who responded well to immunotherapy, although this was the least reliable indicator of patient response. Eight of the nine patients in the melanoma group have responded well clinically, whereas five of the six squamous cell carcinoma patients have developed recurrences.
Cancer 1977 Feb
PMID:Immunocompetence of cancer patients treated with Levamisole. 18 94

Samples of 35 tumors from the head and neck region (25 squamous cell, 2 basal cell, 5 parotid, 3 melanoma, and 1 lymphosarcoma) were cultured after dispersement with either trypsin or collagenase treatment. Growth was established in 14 (40%). Cultured tumor cells were then used as target cells in in vitro assays of patients' cellular and humoral immunity to their own or similar tumors. Preliminary data suggest this may be a reliable method of monitoring responses in patients receiving immunotherapy for head and neck malignancies.
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PMID:Tissue-cultured head and neck tumors: their use in in vitro assays of immune response. 19 78

There is considerable evidence to suggest that macrophages participate in host resistance to the development and spread of cancer. We have, therefore, studied monocytemacrophage function in humans and animals with neoplasms. Approximately 60% of patients with various types of cancer were found to have abnormal monocyte chemotactic responsiveness in vitro, and abnormal chemotaxis was an indicator of poor prognosis in patients with melanoma. By studying patients before and after surgery, it was found that abnormal chemotactic responses normalized within weeks after removal of malignant tumors, indicating that a neoplasm itself might affect the host's monocyte chemotactic responsiveness. Subsequent studies using transplantable neoplasms in mice substantiated this hypothesis in that macrophage accumulation in vivo as well as macrophage chemotactic responsiveness in vitro was depressed in animals during the early phases of tumor growth. This depression of macrophage function could be attributed to a low-molecular-weight factor contained in murine neoplasms, which when given to normal mice was extremely potent in depressing peritoneal macrophage accumulation and chemotaxis but, paradoxically, enhanced phagocytosis. The serum of tumor-bearing mice also contained potent inhibitory activity for macrophage accumulation. In contrast to the effects on macrophages, granulocyte accumulation in vivo and chemotaxis in vitro was not depressed by the presence of a neoplasm or the administration of the factor from neoplasms. By releasing factors which depress macrophage migratory function, neoplasms may protect themselves from immunologically mediated host destruction during the early phases of tumor growth.
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PMID:Macrophage migratory dysfunction in cancer. A mechanism for subversion of surveillance. 19 6

Primary explants of human malignant melanoma were utilized in the preparation of oncolysates by Newcastle disease virus. The concentrated lysate, administered parenterally, was employed in an effort to augment antitumor immunologic responses in patients with metastatic melanoma. Observed cellular changes suggested a benefit, but humoral antibody measurements were not impressive.
Cancer 1977 Aug
PMID:Viral oncolysate in the management of malignant melanoma. I. Preparation of the oncolysate and measurement of immunologic responses. 19 39

Melanoma cell oncolysate, prepared with Newcastle disease virus, was administered as an immunostimulant to 13 patients with metastatic melanoma. The oncolysate was well tolerated. Six treated patients evidenced a decrease in the size of skin nodules or diseased lymph nodes. Visceral lesions were not favorably influenced to any marked degree. One case of fulminating disease showed a change to slow progression and survived a year longer than was otherwise expected. Another patient, whose melanoma could not be controlled by surgery or chemotherapy, has been in complete remission for 2 years. It appears that viral oncolysate might be particularly helpful to patients with early disease.
Cancer 1977 Aug
PMID:Viral oncolysate in the management of malignant melanoma. II. Clinical studies. 19 40


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