A FACTOR FROM NORMAL TISSUES INHIBITING TUMOR GROWTH

Extracts of desiccated embryo skin and placenta have been found to exert a definite retarding action on the growth of two transplantable carcinomas of mice, but they were without effect on sarcomas. In tests involving some 828 inoculations of the tumor cells and the extracts, complete suppression of growth occurred in from 55 to 71 per cent of instances, as compared with 21 to 27 per cent in the controls, and where growth was not completely suppressed some retardation was found in practically every instance. To judge from findings in rabbits the inhibitor is not demonstrable in the placenta until the beginning of the second third of pregnancy, reaches its maximum by the last third, but disappears about 2 or 3 days before term. Extracts of fresh placenta are without effect, and no very definite inhibition was noted in extracts of a variety of other desiccated or fresh tissues. The conclusions here reported are based on the results of over 3800 inoculations.