IMMUNOBIOLOGY OF PRIMARY MURINE MELANOMAS

Primary cutaneous melanomas can be induced in inbred mice by applying a dose of dimethylbenz[a]anthracene to the skin of 4-day-old mice, and then applying repeated doses of a tumor promoter to the same site over a long period of time. Preliminary experiments suggest that the final incidence of melanomas is strongly influenced by the age at which the initiating dose of carcinogen is applied. Melanomas induced by this method in C3H mice are immunogenic and exhibit a high degree of cross-reactivity when tested by immunization and challenge in vivo. Exposing the mice to ultraviolet (UV) radiation during carcinogenesis dramatically accelerates the appearance of melanoma. We are attempting to determine how UV radiation potentiates melanoma induction by studying the growth of melanoma cells transplanted into UV-irradiated skin. Our studies suggest that UV irradiation accelerates the outgrowth of melanoma cells by means of a local, immunosuppressive effect on the skin. However, this effect is distinct from the ability of UV irradiation to alter epidermal Langerhans cells and interfere with the induction of contact hypersensitivity responses. We postulate that UV irradiation augments melanoma development by interfering with the efferent arm of the immune response in the UV-irradiated site.