Immunological and virological studies of patients with tumours of the urogenital system.

The possible connections between the oncogenic viruses and the various tumours of the urogenital system were investigated. Examining the patients' cellular immune response by the lymphocyte transformation test, it was found that the non-specific immune response was considerably diminished in almost all cases, while response to adeno- and herpesvirus antigens was enhanced. Structural and functional impairment of T-lymphocytes frequently occurred. Antiviral humoral antibodies were present more rarely in cancer patients than in the controls. However, type 12 markedly oncogenic anti-adenovirus antibody was frequently found. Using the immunofluorescent method, adeno- and herpesviruses were found in more than 50% of the patients' malignant tumour cells. Electron microscopically, in some cases adeno-, herpes- and type C virus particles, too, were isolated in the tumour cells. According to these results besides other factors also adenoviruses may play a role in urogenital tumours.