The contrast in the reactions to the implantation of cancer after the inoculation of living and mechanically disintegrated cells / by M. Haaland ; [communicated by J. Rose Bradford].

  • Haaland, Magnus, 1876-1935.
Date:
1910
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Licence: In copyright

Credit: The contrast in the reactions to the implantation of cancer after the inoculation of living and mechanically disintegrated cells / by M. Haaland ; [communicated by J. Rose Bradford]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    treated with skin ground at a temperature of about 0° C. gave 10 tumours in 11 mice, i.c. 91 per cent., and these tumours grew more rapidly than the control tumours. This experiment demonstrates that an efficient disinte- gration of the cells of normal tissues robs them of all immunising properties. We have later repeated this experiment with other normal tissues, spleen, liver, and blood, with the same result. Another method for obtaining the proteids of the cells has been tried: that of obtaining the press-fluid from tumours and normal tissues by Buchner’s press after disintegration of the cells by grinding in a mortar with sand. The effect of a preliminary inoculation of such press-fluid on a subse- quent inoculation of cancer was studied. Injection of 0-50 c.c. of tumour press-fluid, 11 days previous to testing inoculation, far from having any immunising effect, on the contrary hypersensitises the animals. These experiments with ground material and press-fluid, both of cancerous and normal tissues, show that the power of inducing resistance is not bound up with the proteid of the cell as a chemical entity, but in some way or other depends upon properties of the living cells. The investigations described above refer especially to mechanically disin- tegrated cells, but the results also apply to disintegration by autolysis, by heat, and to the influence of radium. In this latter case the microscopical appearance of the cells and their anatomical structure remains apparently unaltered. This shows that the loss of immunising power is not bound to any special form of disintegration, but is common to all means by which the life of the cell is destroyed. The conclusions are :— Complete disintegration of the tumour cells robs them entirely of their immunising properties. There is no difference between tumour cells and normal cells in this respect. The absence of .immunising power does not seem to be a question of dose of introduced material, because relatively enormous doses of dead material Cg. 1/26 of the weight of the animal) do not induce any resistance, whereas minimal doses of living cells (c.g. 1/1300 of the weight of the animal) have this effect. The immunising property is not bound up with the protein of the cell, but depends on a different principle. Living cells are necessary to induce resist- ance to transplantation of cancer. It seems necessary that these cells must not only remain alive, but also even grow for a certain time; without the fulfilment of these conditions the reaction inducing active resistance is not set up.
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