An Effective Approach for Immunotherapy Using Irradiated Tumor Cells

This study aimed at investigating the effect of injection of Irradiated Ehrlich tumor cells alone or concurrent with Echinacea purpurea immunomodulator in mice before and after challenge with viable Ehrlich tumor cells for enhancement of immune system. This study included the estimation of tumor size, LDH, MTT, granzyme B, and DNA fragmentation. In order to fulfill the target of this study, mice were divided into two classes: vaccinated (injection of irradiated Ehrlich tumor cells as a vaccine before challenge) and therapeutic class (injection of irradiated Ehrlich tumor cells after challenge). Results obtained from this study demonstrated that, the lymphocyte count and granzyme B activity were increased in both vaccinated and therapeutic classes compared to control group. LDH activity was decreased in all groups of vaccinated class and also in therapeutic class, group of mice challenged with viable Ehrlich tumor cells then after one week immunized three times with irradiated Ehrlich tumor cells with one week interval, in group of mice challenged with viable Ehrlich tumor cells/mouse then immunized three times with irradiated Ehrlich tumor cells with one week interval and immunized also with 0.6 mg Echinacea purpurea /mouse daily for the first week compared to control group. There was a significant increase in percentage of apoptosis of tumor cells cultured with spleenocytes of the groups of vaccinated class as compared to control group. Cellular DNA from Ehrlich tumor cell line cultured with spleenocytes of immunized groups was fragmented into discrete bands of approximate multiples of 200 bp. revealing significant apoptosis in tumor cells due to vaccination. It is concluded that, vaccination with irradiated tumor cells is an effective approach in stimulating the immune system against viable tumor cells.