Remission of transplanted melanoma--clinical course and tumour cell characterisation.

The recipient of a cadaveric kidney was found to have donor melanoma within the graft together with metastatic spread. After cessation of immunosuppression, the kidney rejected and was removed. One month later there was both clinical and radiological evidence of remission and at autopsy 5 months later there was no histological evidence of melanoma. The outcome for recipients of other organs from the same donor was varied. Tumour cells expressed HLA class 1 antigens mismatched in the recipient and mRNA for the costimulator B7, and the cytokines GM-CSF, IL-1 alpha and beta. These characteristics may have been important in the host immunological response.