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Intralesional Bacillus Calmette-Guérin Immunotherapy of Canine Venereal Tumors¹

Veterans Administration West Side Hospital [A. D. H., A. R. Z., R. B. E.] and Departments of Medicine [R. C., A. R. Z., R. B. E.] and Pathology [A. D. H., R. B. E.], Abraham Lincoln School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois 60612

Canine transmissible venereal tumors were studied for response to intralesional Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) therapy. Six pairs of littermates, identical for the major histocompatibility complex, were evaluated. One member of each pair received intralesional BCG to one of two growing tumors. Lesions of control animals received 0.9% NaCl solution. Both injected and noninjected lesions of BCG-treated animals underwent regression within 63 days, as compared to an extended period of tumor growth (beyond 100 days) for controls (p < 0.05). Serial in vitro assays during therapy included: (a) mixed lymphocyte-tumor culture, (b) phytohemagglutinin stimulation, and (c) assessment of lymphocyte surface markers. Lymphocytes from BCG-treated dogs were significantly more responsive to tumor cells in mixed lymphocyte-tumor culture assay than were those from controls (p < 0.05). Maximal responses occurred during tumor regression. T- and B-lymphocyte levels as assayed by rosette formation and surface marker immunoglobulins were not influenced by BCG therapy. It was concluded that intralesional BCG therapy of canine venereal tumors was highly effective in causing regression of injected and noninjected lesions. This tumor model system may be useful for the evaluation of the effectiveness of new immunotherapeutic approaches on established neoplasms in large, randomly bred animals.

¹ This work was supported by Basic Institutional Support Funds, Veterans Administration West Side Hospital, and the American Cancer Society, Illinois Division, Grant 74-6.

² Graduate student, Department of Pathology.

³ Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Illinois Hospital.

⁴ Fellow in Oncology, University of Illinois Hospital.

⁵ Medical Investigator, Veterans Administration West Side Hospital.

Received 1/30/76. Accepted 8/ 3/77.