Antitumour activity of adenovirus-12 structural proteins against Moloney sarcoma tumours in mice.

When purified fibre and hexon proteins of adenovirus 12 were given intramuscularly to 4-week-old BALB/c mice (250-300 mug/mouse) 2 h prior to inoculation with mouse sarcoma virus (0.05 ml of 10(4) FFU/ml) at the same site, significant suppression of tumour growth (P less than 0.001), and rapid regression in tumour size (P less than 0.001) were noted. As a rule, the survival rate in treated mice was also significantly higher than in untreated mice. Furthermore, the disease process in treated mice as compared to untreated mice was far less extensive as judged by the scarcity of sarcoma lesions on the spleens. Preliminary evidence suggested that treatment with fibre could lead to increased cellular immunity in mice. Whether this may be a secondary consequence of events whereby fibre inhibited tumour growth rather than first order mechanism of the inhibition is not known.