Multiple in vitro mechanisms of tumor cytotoxicity demonstrated in the line-1 guinea pig hepatoma model.

The line-1 guinea pig hepatoma was used to study in vitro tumor cytotoxicity. Cytotoxicity was determined by measurement of the loss of tritiated thymidine-labeled target cells from culture vessels. With this technique, we demonstrated that significant tumor cytotoxicity was caused by lymphoid cells from tumor-immune guinea pigs, by cells from guinea pigs immunized against an antigen urelated to the tumor target, and by cell-free supernatants rich in lymphocyte mediators. Addition of normal peritoneal exudate cells enhanced the cytotoxic potential of a small number of highly purified immune lymphocytes, which suggested that recruitment of normal cells is an additional mechanism of tumor cell death in this system.