Effects of C. parvum on growth and induction of intracerebral tumours in mice

Summary.-An investigation was made into the effect of Corynebacterium parvum therapy on cerebral tumours in mice. I.v. C. parvum caused a slight but significant increase in the survival of BALB/c mice injected intracerebrally (i.c.) with not more than 50 Meth A cells. C. parvum was most effective if given on the same day or 5 days after tumour. If this interval was increased there was no effect. Multiple i.v. injections were no more effective than a single dose. I.v. C. parvum had no influence on the survival of C57BL mice injected i.c. with Lewis tumour cells, and had little effect on the induction of i.c. or s.c. tumours by methylchol-anthrene. It was concluded that C. parvum therapy was of little use in the treatment of cerebral tumour in mice. The clinical implications of these findings are dis-cussed. THERE is extensive documentation of the antitumour effect of Corynebacterium parvum on a wide variety of solid and ascitic murine tumours (Woodruff and Boak, 1966; Halpern et al., 1966; Castro, 1974) and on its inhibitory effect on naturally occurring metastases (Proctor