Presence of complement-fixing antibodies against antigens of Gross virus-induced rat lymphoma and normal rat thymus in sera of patients with some forms of malignancies.

Presence of complement-fixing antibodies against soluble antigen(s) of Gross virus-induced rat lymphoma W/Fu(C58NT)D was determined in sera of 180 healthy donors, in sera from 100 healthy pregnant women and in sera obtained from 139 patients with acute myelosis, acute lymphadenosis, acute undifferentiated leukosis, chronic myelosis, chronic lymphadenosis and Hodgkin's disease. Antibodies against soluble complement-fixing antigen from W/Fu(C58NT)D rat lymphoma were found in 33 (5).5%) out of 64 sera of patients with acute leukemia, in 15 out of 60 sera of patients with Hodgkin's disease, in 17 (9.4%) out of 180 healthy donors and in 22 (22.0%) out of 100 sera from healthy pregnant women. None of 15 sera from patients with chronic leukemia were positive. Titers of complement-fixing antibodies in positive sera remained unchanged after absorption with pooled lymphocytes from healthy human donors. Some selected positive sera reacted also with a soluble antigen prepared from normal rat thymus. Nature of complement-fixing antibodies detected and of corresponding antigens is discussed.