Antitumor immunity in breast cancer patients. Biologic and therapeutic implications.

As judged by in vivo and in vitro indices of cellular immunity, mammary carcinogenesis appears to be associated with immunogenic changes in the transformed cells and prognostically favorable antitumor cell-mediated immunity in the host. The prognostically favorable cell-mediated immunity appears to be directed against a component(s) which is shared by most stage 0 in situ breast cancers and the major envelope glycoprotein (gp55) of RIII murine mammary tumor virus. Progressive disease is associated with a loss of gp55-like tumor immunogenicity and/or anti-gp55 cell-mediated immunity of the host. It is appropriate that measurements of tumor immunogenicity and tumor-specific cell-mediated immunity of the host be included in the prognostic assessment and therapeutic decisions regarding individual patients. Such data are particularly pernitent to the development and evaluation of immunotherapeutic and immunoprophylactic protocols.