Recent views on tumour antigens and their relation to host defence mechanisms

HLA DR and AB surface antigens correlate with cell shape (surface area)

In order to help explain some of the various phenomena associated with both benign and malignant cells, this study was undertaken to determine if changes in the shape of the cell could alter the recognition of the cell. Non-transformed Human cells, HEL 299, were evaluated for their shape and surface antigens. A direct statistical correlation was found between the two surface antigens HLA AB and DR and the cell shape (surface area). The possible significance of this phenomena in non transformed human cells to neoplastic proliferation is suggested.

The deduction of tumor histogenesis, with special reference to teratomas and ovarian tumors

The secure deduction of tumor histogenesis in vivo is notoriously difficult, owing to the retrospective form of the inquiry, which implies that no histogenetic theory makes certain-enough predictions. Deduction of a tumor's parent tissue currently relies on 1) its location relative to that of small early tumors, 2) correlation of its relative availability with tumor frequency, 3) its resemblance to the tumor tissue in various respects, and 4) its microscopic continuity with the tumor through transitional forms. Each of these criteria has pitfalls, owing to possible failure of the relevant factor to persist or to subsequent mimicry of it by other processes. This makes reliance on only one or two criteria undesirable. The application of these criteria to teratomas shows that there are no convincing data provided by the fourth. A dysgerminoma containing multiple small teratoid foci, which was studied in detail, is described, and the origin of the second tissue from the first is argued. The apparently somatic origin of some of the mesenchyma and the role of the mesenchyma in promoting teratoma development and segregation are discussed.

Stress and disease: the missing link. A vasospastic theory. III. Stress, vasospasm and general disease

The potential importance of vasospasm, with or without consequent thrombosis, as a mechanism in general disease is discussed and the evidence examined in one organ, namely the brain. It is concluded that vasospasm might be important in a number of neurological disorders, including migraine, epilepsy, and even some of the schizophrenia-like illnesses. Repeated ischaemic cell damage from vasospasm is also discussed as a possible factor initiating autoimmune disease and cancer. The similarities between viral transformation and neoplasia have led to the proposition that much cancer might be explained if as a species we have evolved by the gradual build-up of viruses.

Blocking factors against melanoma leucocyte-dependent antibody: relationship to disease activity in melanoma patients

Previous studies have shown that many melanoma patients have cytotoxic leucocyte-dependent antibody (LDA) which is inhibited by factors in their sera. These factors were shown to be small molecular weight glycoproteins which could also be identified in the supernatants of melanoma cultures, and which were therefore most likely to be melanoma cell surface antigens. The present studies have shown that these blocking factors against melanoma LDA can be detected in patients with primary melanoma, and that the levels of this activity show an inverse correlation with the levels of LDA in the sera of melanoma patients. The appearance of melanoma LDA after surgery for localized melanoma was shown in approximately a third of the patients, and this pattern was shown to result from the disappearance of the LDA blocking activity after surgical removal of the melanoma. Assays were designed specifically to measure the melanoma LDA blocking factors by plasmapheresis. It is not yet known whether the melanoma LDA blocking activity has correlation with tumour growth in melanoma patients. The potential value of measuring this activity to assess response to therapy was shown by studies designed to remove the blocking factors by plasmapheresis. It is not yet known whether the melanoma LDA blocking activity has biological significance in regard to tumour growth, but these studies appear to indicate that measurement of these factors in the sera of melanoma patients may provide a useful in vitro monitor of tumour growth in melanoma patients.