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Mouse monoclonal antibodies against the human mammary carcinoma cell line, MCF-7, were produced and tested against a panel of cell lines. They recognize a variety of intra- and extracellular antigens. Four of them did not react with the human rhabdomyosarcoma cell line A-204 used as a discriminating second target during initial screening. One of these, 45-B/B3, is specific for epithelia, and probably recognizes a cytokeratin. This antibody clearly differentiates carcinomas from sarcomas and lymphomas, and epithelial cells in culture from fibroblasts. It is not species-restricted.

Ultrasound guided fine needle biopsy led in 92 of 100 patients with suspected tumours to correct diagnostic results which determined the diagnostic and therapeutic management. Ultrasound-tomography may thus in connection with fine needle biopsy enlarge and simplify tumour diagnosis.

A surgical adjuvant therapy trial was started in 1974, in locoregionally advanced breast cancer. The adjuvant hormonal and cytostatic therapeutic regimen was administered according to the results of predictive tests: estrogen receptor (ER) assay and oncobiogram (group I); in the control group (0) no adjuvant therapy was given until relapse, but tests were performed like in group I. Preliminary results. In a subgroup with adjuvant chemotherapy, using one or more substances according to oncobiogram, with or without hormonal treatment, the treated women did highly-significantly better, compared with the untreated group. No advantage was seen from ovariectomy and/or anabolic steroids, either with or without Cytoxan (Test results: ER +, in vitro not growing tumours). Some doubt exists about the results: resistant, especially in testing cytostatics. This doubt and the rate of tumours, not growing in vitro, limit the use of predictive tests, concerning cytostatics. Further, one has to be cautious in the use of additive hormonal treatment in surgical adjuvant therapy: in some cases stimulation can not be excluded.

We have examined the possibility of transplanting syngeneic and xenogeneic tumor material below the renal capsule of normal, immunocompetent mice as a chemotherapeutic test model. Whereas the Lewis lung carcinoma in the syngeneic system was appropriated for the 6-day-test, only 56% of spontaneous C3H mammary carcinomas showed an increase in the size of the transplanted material. An individual sensitivity to the cytostatic agents as an expression of biological variability could be detected for primary C3H mammary carcinomas. Both, xenogeneic lines of human origin, established in nude mice, and fresh resection material from the clinic showed on the normal, immunocompetent mouse no time-dependent, reproducible growth of the transplanted material in control animals. However, growth is considered as a precondition for estimating the effect of therapy. The normal, immunocompetent mouse was in our experiments not suitable for application of the renal capsule assay in the 6-day-test as a recipient for xenogeneic transplantation.

Estradiol binding proteins in frozen sections of human breast tumors, ovarian carcinomas, hypernephromas, rat uteri and cow udders were demonstrated by fluorescent labeled estradiol bovine serum albumin conjugate (cytochemical or direct method). The specificity of the binding of estradiol conjugate to tissue sections was tried to approach by addition of various steroid or non-steroidal competitors. The estradiol conjugate binding sites were practically not present in sections of human spleen, cross muscle and colon muscle.

DNA distributions were recorded flow cytometrically in 19 normal, 23 precancerous tissues with epithelial proliferation and cell atypia (P1), 7 carcinomata lobularia in situ and intraductale carcinomas (P2) and in 44 invasive carcinomas of the human breast. The results were compared to histological findings, tumor staging and grading, lymph node involvement and age of the patients. DNA diploidy was found in all normal, 21 P1 tissues, 6 P2 tissues and 12 carcinomas; DNA aneuploidy in 2 P1 tissues, 1 P2 tissue and 32 carcinomas. Lobular carcinomas were preferentially involved in the DNA diploid group, duct carcinomas in the DNA aneuploid group. Cell cycle distribution analysis resulted in significantly higher percentages of cells in S- and G2M phase in DNA aneuploid carcinomas compared to normal and precancerous (P1, P2) tissues. The percentage of cells in G2M phase was significantly higher in DNA aneuploid carcinomas originating from patients younger than 50 years compared to patients older than 50 years. Correlations between the DNA-index, cell cycle distribution, lymph node involvement, tumour staging or histological type were not evident.