Background: To develop novel therapeutic approaches for patients with head and neck malignancies, poorly immunogenic murine models of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) need to be defined.
Methods: The phenotype, growth characteristics, and responsiveness to tumor-specific T-cell transfer of a spontaneously arising murine SCC (SCC VII) were characterized.
Results: SCC VII expresses major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules yet is resistant to tumor-specific T-cell killing and relatively insensitive to killing mediated by lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells. Intradermal tumors are reproducibly established after vaccination of 5 x 10(4) cells, and systemic micrometastases are apparent after intravenous administration of 2.5 x 10(4) cells. Immunotherapy of 3-day lung metastases using tumor-specific T cells and systemic interleukin-2 (IL-2) was ineffective in reducing the number of metastases in vivo.
Conclusions: SCC VII is a poorly immunogenic murine squamous cell cancer, which represents an ideal model for preclinical testing of immunotherapeutic approaches for patients with SCC of the upper aerodigestive tract.
Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Head Neck 23: 899-906, 2001.