Suppression of generation of concomitant antitumor immunity by passively transferred suppressor T cells from tumor-bearing donors

Summary Infusion of normal recipient mice with suppressor T cells from donors bearing a progressive Meth A fibrosarcoma results in a diminished capacity of the recipients to generate concomitant and postexcision antitumor immunity. The passive transfer of suppressor cells which prevented the generation of immunity to the Meth A fibrosarcoma did not affect the capacity of the recipients to reject an allogeneic tumor. The data provides direct evidence in support of the hypothesis that suppressor T cells, generated at later stages of growth of Meth A fibrosarcoma, function to down-regulate an already acquired mechanism of concomitant immunity.This work was supported by Grants CA-16642 and CA-17794 from the National Cancer Institute, Grant RR-05705 from the Division of Research Resources, NIH, and a grant from R. J. Reynolds Industries, Inc