Cryosurgery of the rabbit prostate. Comparison of the immune response of immature and mature bucks

The intensity and specificity of the immune response developed following each of three independent in situ freezing insults of the coagulating gland (anterior prostate) of immature male rabbits have been compared to that obtained following similar cryostimulation of the coagulating gland of mature bucks by the methods of tanned cell haemagglutination and gel diffusion precipitation. Results of this study offer confirmation to the previously demonstrated secondary or anamnestic immune response observed following multiple freezing of the rabbit coagulating gland and indicate further that the size and physiological status of the coagulating gland, i.e., the concentration of coagulating gland secretory autoantigens, are among the important variables in determining the cryosensitivity of a given animal. This cryosensitivity may be of particular significance in the prospective treatment of patients with prostatic cancer by cryoimmunotherapy. That is, the development of an immune response in such patients may reasonably be related to the concentration and subsequent release of prostatic tumourspecific or tumour-associated antigens.