Cellular immunity to tumor associated antigens in sarcoma patients and their relatives

This study demonstrates that cellular immunity to sarcoma associated antigens is found in a significantly higher percentage of patients with sarcoma and their immediate family members than in most control groups tested. At the same time a moderate degree of cross reactivity to antigens prepared from histologically different tumors was found both in patients with sarcoma and in patients with nonsarcomatous tumors, and it is reasonable to assume that crude tumor extracts contain some antigens common to several types of tumors and possibly other specificities less well defined. These studies substantiate the impression gained from earlier humoral studies that transmissable vectors may be associated with sarcoma. Although the number of blood relatives and relatives by marriage tested was too small to permit valid statistical analysis, the patterns of reactivity within the individual sarcoma families suggested that transmission of these vectors could be either vertical or horizontal.