TUMOR-GROWTH, WEIGHT-LOSS AND CYTOKINES IN SCID MICE

It has been proposed that immunoregulatory cytokines play a role in th e onset and development of cancer cachexia, although evidence supporti ng this theory remains inconclusive. In the present study, SCID mice w ere implanted with one of two tumor cell lines known to induce weight loss in rats. Growth of the Morris 7777 hepatoma was associated with w eight loss as well as increased levels of tumor necrosis factor and in terleukins 1 and 6 in spleen cells of tumor-bearing mice. Growth of th e MCA sarcoma did not induce weight loss, nor did it increase cytokine expression in spleen cells of tumor-bearing mice. We conclude that in creased cytokine expression is associated with weight loss in tumor-be aring SCID mice, and immune activation for cytokine expression does no t require the presence of T or B cells. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Irel and Ltd.