Abstract
Summary
Parenteral administration of heterologous albumin (125 mg/kg body weight per day or 2 g/kg body weight in 14 days) was found to increase the incidence of tumors produced by inoculation of sarcoma 180 cells from 59% in control mice given saline, to 92% in mice given albumin. In the mice given Ehrlich's ascites tumor cells the take was 54% in animals given saline but was increased to 91% in animals receiving albumin. Similar but less significant results were obtained with hydrolyzed albumin.
Prior incubation in vitro of albumin with these tumor cells did not produce an enhancement in takes on subsequent inoculation in mice, suggesting that the albumin did not act directly upon the tumor cell. It appears that the effect of the heterologous albumin is more likely to be due to an albumin-host interaction than an albumin-cancer cell effect. This is supported by the study of the effect of albumin on growth of the tumor in vivo associated with a decrease in weight of the adrenals and ovaries. This finding is being investigated.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.