Recombinant human tumor necrosis factor--II. Antitumor effect on murine and human tumors transplanted in mice.

Recombinant human tumor necrosis factor (rHu-TNF) was found to exhibit potent antitumor activities not only against murine tumors, i.e. Meth A sarcoma, B 16 melanoma, colon 26 adenocarcinoma, Lewis lung carcinoma and MH134 hepatoma, transplanted in syngeneic mice but also against human tumors, i.e. HMV-2 melanoma, PC-10 lung carcinoma and GOTO neuroblastoma, heterotransplanted in nude mice. rHu-TNF caused necrosis of all tumors tested and inhibited their growth in a dose dependent manner. Complete regression of tumors was observed in mice bearing Meth A, B16, colon 26, MH134, HMV-2 and PC-10 but not in mice bearing Lewis lung carcinoma and GOTO neuroblastoma. The prolongation of survival time was also observed in syngeneic mice transplanted with murine tumors except Lewis lung carcinoma. The antitumor effect of rHu-TNF was more evident when it was given intratumorally than when given intravenously. The feasibility of rHu-TNF as a drug for cancer therapy is discussed.