Rejection of allogeneic tumor cells growing in mouse cerebrospinal fluid. Functional analysis of the inflammatory process.

Mice injected intracerebrally (i.c.) with mastocytoma cells reject the tumor, which grows rapidly in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), within 7 or 8 days. The characteristics of the inflammatory exudate have been examined by several different, functional criteria. Potent cytotoxic T-lymphocyte populations are readily demonstrated in CSF, and both phagocytic and non-phagocytic cells capable of mediating antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity are also present. However, no tumor-specific antibody was detected in CSF of mice that had recently rejected the tumor, using sensitive complement-dependent and lymphocyte-dependent cytotoxic assay systems. The process of cell-mediated tumor rejection does not obviously compromise the blood-CSF barrier to immunoglobulins.