IMMUNOTHERAPY OF TUMORS WITH AUTOLOGOUS TUMOR-DERIVED HEAT-SHOCK-PROTEIN PREPARATIONS

Immunotherapy of mice with preexisting cancers with heat shock protein preparations derived from autologous cancer resulted in retarded prog ression oi the primary cancer, a reduced metastatic load, and prolonga tion of life-span. Treatment with heat shock protein preparations deri ved from cancers other than the autologous cancer did not provide sign ificant protection. Spontaneous cancers (lung cancer and melanoma), ch emically induced cancers (fibrosarcoma and colon carcinoma), and an ul traviolet radiation-induced spindle cell cacinoma were tested, and the results support the efficacy of autologous cancer-derived heat shock protein-peptide complexes in immunotherapy of cancers without the need to identify specific tumor antigenic epitopes.