title: Effect of flavone acetic acid (NSC 347,512) on splenic cytotoxic effector cells and their role in tumour necrosis.
abstract: Flavone acetic acid (FAA), an antitumour agent currently undergoing clinical trial, has immune-modulatory effects on various cytotoxic cells in mice. Natural killer (NK) cell activity in the spleen was augmented 4 h after FAA treatment, and when spleen cells were cultured with interleukin-2 to induce the production of lymphokine-activated-killer (LAK) cells, higher levels of LAK cell activity were generated by spleen cells from FAA-treated animals than by spleen cells from untreated, control mice. The response to FAA by spleen cells from mice bearing the Colon 38 tumour was compared to that of non-tumour bearers. Activity against NK-sensitive YAC-1 tumour targets was augmented to a similar degree, and no activity against NK-resistant P815 targets was detected. FAA was shown to induce haemorrhagic necrosis in the P815 tumour grown as a subcutaneous solid tumour. Furthermore, haemorrhagic necrosis was induced by FAA on Colon 38 tumours growing in mice which had been depleted of NK activity by treatment with anti-asialo GM-1 antibody. Thus, although NK activity could be involved in the long-term host response to the tumour, it does not appear to be a major determinant of FAA-induced haemorrhagic tumour necrosis.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research Laboratory, University of Auckland School of Medicine, New Zealand.
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Ching
authors.forename: B C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Baguley
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003601:Cytotoxicity Tests, Immunologic; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000187:drug effects*; D051379:Mice; D009336:Necrosis; D013154:Spleen / Q000276:immunology; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D005419:Flavonoids; C049328:flavone acetic acid