T-cell-mediated suppression of anti-tumor immunity. An explanation for progressive growth of an immunogenic tumor.

The results of this paper are consistent with the hypothesis that progressive growth of the Meth A fibrosarcoma evokes the generation of a T-cell-mediated mechanism of immunosuppression that prevents this highly immunogenic tumor from being rejected by its immunocompetent host. It was shown that it is possible to cause the regression of large, established Meth A tumors by intravenous infusion of tumor-sensitized T cells from immune donors, but only if the tumors are growing in T-cell-deficient recipients. It was also shown that the adoptive T-cell-mediated regression of tumors in such recipients can be prevented by prior infusion of splenic T cells from T-cell-intact, tumor-bearing donors. The results leave little doubt that the presence of suppressor T cells in T-cell-intact, tumor-bearing mice is responsible for the loss of an earlier generated state of concomitant immunity, and for the inability of intravenously infused, sensitized T cells to cause tumor regression. Because the presence of suppressor T cells generated in response to the Meth A did not suppress the capacity of Meth A-bearing mice to generate and express immunity against a tumor allograft, it is obvious that they were not in a state of generalized immunosuppression.