Cellular and humoral immunity against human malignant melanoma

Abstract

Abstract The humoral and cellular immunological responses of melanoma patients against tumor‐associated antigens were studied by means of the indirect membrane immunofluorescence test and a microassay for cell‐mediated cytotoxicity. Melanoma target cells obtained from 22 different surgical specimens were used. A total of 15 different sera were tested in 27 fluorescence assays. Humoral antibodies were found in all the 13 autochthonous sera tested: eight out of ten sera cross‐reacted with one or two allogeneic melanoma cells. The 31 microassays performed with lymphocytes from 16 patients showed that effector cells specifically killed the melanoma target cells in seven out of 12 autochthonous tests and in 14 out of 19 allogeneic tests. No cytotoxicity was found when melanoma‐patient lymphocytes were tested against control cells or when control lymphocytes were tested against melanoma cells. The observed cross‐reactivity pattern indicates that more than one tumor‐specific antigen may be present in melanoma cells.