Giovanni Invernizzi

MULTIPLE FOREIGN NON-H-2 DETERMINANTS ON THE SURFACE OF A CHEMICALLY-INDUCED MURINE SARCOMA*

By immunizing BALB/c (H‐2d mice against normal tissues from C57BL/6J (H‐2b), C3Hf (H‐2k) and DBA/2 (H‐2d), but not from AKR (H‐2k) strains, resistance was induced to the subsequent challenge of the ‘syngeneic’ methyl‐cholanthrene‐induced BALB/c sarcoma ST5; lymph node cells from allo‐immune BALB/c mice were also able to exert a parallel cytotoxic effect against in vitro cultured ST5 cells. The involvement of foreign H‐2 specificities in the observed cross‐reactions was ruled out by absorptions of H‐2 monospecific sera and by the interallelic combinations used, thus suggesting that non‐H‐2 histocompatibility antigens were responsible for the above findings.

Indium-111-DTPA-octreotide scintigraphy modulation by treatment with unlabelled somatostatin analogue in small-cell lung cancer.

Aims and background Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) tissue expresses somatostatin receptors and can be visualized by means of the indium-111-labelled somatostatin analogue DTPA-D-Pheoctreotide. The aim of the study was to investigate whether treatment with a cold somatostatin analogue can affect the imaging of somatostatin receptor scintigraphy. Methods Three patients with SCLC were treated with 200 μg of cold octreotide three times a day subcutaneously for 7 days. Whole body and planar scintigraphy was performed before and after the treatment. Results 111In-DTPA-octreotide uptake was increased in cancer lesions, whereas fixation in normal tissues (liver, spleen, kidneys) decreased. Conclusions This is the first demonstration of an enhancement of SCLC imaging following unlabelled somatostatin analogue administration. Similar results have been described by other authors in a limited number of carcinoid tumors.

Depression of cellular immune response during syngeneic pregnancy as measured by the graft-versus-host reaction.

The cellular immune response during the course of intrastrain pregnancies was evaluated in primiparous and multiparous BALB/c females by the graft-versus-host (GVH) activity of the splenic and lymph nodal lymphocytes. Splenic lymphocytes of both primiparous and multiparous pregnant mice had a GVH activity lower than that of the virgin mice. This immune deficit was more evident in multiparous than in primiparous females and occurred at the 6th day and during the last week of pregnancy. A similar although less pronounced phenomenon was found when lymph nodes instead of spleen of multiparous females were used as the source of cells in a GVH reaction. The immune deficit was less marked when spleen and lymph node cells of pregnant mice were compared with similar cells of pseudopregnant females. Incubation of virgin BALB/c spleen lymphocytes in the serum of multiparous pregnant mice as compared to normal virgin serum caused a reduction of the GVH activity; incubation of the cells in pseudopregnant serum also inhibited the immune response, but to a lesser extent than the incubation in multiparous sera.

Effect of octreotide on neuroenolase levels in patients with small cell lung cancer.

Aims and Background The somatostatin analog octreotide has an antiproliferative effect on small cell lung cancer lines in vitro and in experimental xenograft transplantation systems in vivo. Thus it is worth investigating octreotide activity in the clinical setting. Methods We studied the effect of octreotide (200 μg three times a day subcutaneously for seven days) on serum levels of the tumor marker neuroenolase in 13 patients with small cell lung cancer. Results A decrease in neuroenolase levels was observed at day 7 during octreotide treatment, with a mean ± SD of 32.6 ± 42.0 ng/ml compared to basal values of 44.4 ± 57.7 ng/ml and to washout values of 50.3 ± 65.7 ng/ml (P < 0.03). Conclusions Our results indicate that octreotide is effective in reducing neuroenolase levels in small cell lung cancer patients. These data suggest a possible role for octreotide in the treatment of this kind of tumor.