Cellular immune response against tumor cells. I. In vitro immunization of allogeneic and syngeneic mouse spleen cell suspensions against DBA mastocytoma cells

Spleen cell populations stimulated in vitro with as few as 1000 tumor cells produce cytotoxic effector cells. Syngeneic as well as allogeneic spleen cells respond to DBA mastocytoma tumor cells. There is a significant cellular immune response to allogeneic tumor cells 72 hr after exposure to antigen. By contrast, the response of DBA spleen cells to DBA mastocytoma tumor cells is first detectable at 120 hr following exposure to antigen. C57BL/6 spleen cells immunized against DBA mastocytoma antigen kill both DBA mastocytoma tumor cells and normal cells from DBA animals. DBA spleen cells immunized against DBA mastocytoma antigen kill only the DBA mastocytoma tumor cells, and not normal cells from DBA animals.