Biological considerations of tumor-specific and virus-associated antigens of human breast cancers.

In vivo and in vitro studies bearing on tumor-specific and viral-associated antigenicity of human breast carcinomas were reviewed with particular attention to the following clinical considerations: (a) breast carcinomas arise in a nonrandom fashion; (b) in situ carcinomas precede invasive breast carcinomas; (c) invasive breast carcinomas behave in a heterogeneous fashion. Microscopically demonstrable lymphoreticuloendothelial responses, skin window tests, and leukocyte migration tests all indicate that tumor-specific antigenicity develops in assoication with the early phases of mammary carcinogenesis. Such antigenicity is maximally expressed in in situ carcinomas without associated invasive breast cancer and minimally in invasive breast cancers with metastases. Immunogenic breast cancer tissues commonly contain a protein component the antigenic and physicochemical properties of which are similar to those of a protein component of murine mammary tumor virus. Advances in our understanding and control of human mammary carcinogenesis and biological behavior are dependent on the clinicopathological characterization of individual patients and their breast tissues as well as on the analytical procedures used.