Cytotoxicity reactions during immunotherapy of melanoma with neuraminidase altered autologous tumor cells.

Lymphocyte cytotoxicity, serum cytotoxicity, and the ability of the serum to inhibit lymphocyte cytotoxicity (blocking effect) were studied in a melanoma patient treated with six monthly injections of her own (autologous) tumor cells incubated with neuraminidase to increase their antigenicity. The same tumor cells grown in tissue culture were used as target cells for the cytotoxicity test. Large fluctuations of blocking effect in the serum were found, which correlated with the clinical course of tumor removal, recurrence, and regression. After the fifth injection of autologous tumor cells, the blocking effect disappeared from the serum (unblocking). In general, changes in serum cytotoxicity corresponded with changes in the amount of blocking effect produced by the serum. The results suggest that active immunotherapy may play a role in the prevention of metastases and, that when used within the autologous system, the cytotoxicity test is valuable in studying response to this type of therapy.