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Responsiveness of Senescent Mice to the Antitumor Properties of Corynebacterium parvum¹

Biology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830

The antitumor properties of Corynebacterium parvum have been studied in young (3- to 8-month-old) and aged (18 or more months old) BALB/c mice given s.c., i.m., i.p., or i.v. transplants of the highly malignant, weakly immunogenic line 1 lung carcinoma, and in aged (25- to 33-month-old) BALB/c mice bearing primary mammary tumors. These aged BALB/c mice were shown to be less immunoresponsive than their younger counterparts, and this, in combination with nonimmunological factors, made them more sensitive to the lethal effects of the line 1 carcinoma. Correspondingly, C. parvum proved to have less antitumor activity in aged mice than it did in young mice. In spite of this relatively weaker antitumor activity for C. parvum in aged mice, repeated injections of this agent were able to induce temporary regressions of the primary mammary tumors studied and thereby prolong survival time.

¹ Research supported by the Energy Research and Development Agency under contract with Union Carbide.

² Present address: Cancer Research and Treatment Center, University of New Mexico, 900 Camino de Salud, N.E., Albuquerque, N. M. 87131.

Received 7/24/75. Accepted 10/ 3/75.