THE EFFECT OF TUMOR-NECROSIS-FACTOR-ALPHA ON A HUMAN RENAL-CELL CARCINOMA XENOTRANSPLANTED INTO NUDE-MICE - COMPARISON OF INTRAVENOUS AND INTRAPERITONEAL INJECTION

The effect of recombinant human tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha ) on tumor growth and tumor cell proliferation of a human renal cell c arcinoma transplanted into nude mice as well as on the body weight of the tumor-bearing animals has been studied. Due to differences of the effect of TNF-alpha after intravenous and intraperitoneal injection re ported in the literature the influence of the two routes of applicatio n was presently studied. There was no effect on tumor growth with eith er route of application. Only the mode of growth showed a tendency to an increased rate of growth at the beginning of the treatment and a fo llowing increased growth deceleration. A slight change of the H-3-thym idine labeling index and the mitotic index was observed only after int raperitoneal injection of TNF-alpha indicative of a more cytostatic th an cytotoxic effect of the drug. This is supported by the lack of an i ncrease of necrotic cells. Although a rather high dose of TNF-alpha wa s applied, no effect on the body weight of the animals, i.e. no toxic effect of the treatment, has been found.