Abstract

We investigated the effect of PSK, a protein-bound polysaccharide obtained from Coriolus versicolor of basidiomycetes, on antitumor immunity in tumor-bearing mice. PSK prolonged significantly the life span of C3H/He mice bearing syngeneic plasmacytoma X5563 in a schedule- and dose-dependent manner. PSK was most effective when administered at 100 mg/kg every other day ten times starting from the day after tumor inoculation. The administration of PSK enhanced significantly the cytostatic activity of peritoneal exudate plastic-adherent cells and the cytolytic activity of spleen cells after in vitro incubation with mitomycin C-treated tumor cells. In addition, PSK restored the cytokine-producing capacity of spleen cells suppressed in tumor-bearing mice after in vitro incubation with mitogen. Sera from tumor-bearing mice suppressed the activity of such effector cells as well as the interleukin 2-producing capacity of spleen cells, but sera from PSK-treated tumor-bearing mice prevented this suppression. These results suggest that PSK enhances antitumor immunity by reducing immunosuppressive activity of serum from tumor-bearing mice.