The effect of treatment with L-phenylalanine mustard and L-phenylalanine mustard antibody on the survival time of mice with intracerebral ependymoblastomas

Previous work has shown a decreased rate of growth of mouse ependymoblastomas treated with an antigen which fixes to the cell wall, followed by an antibody to the tumor cell marker. The present study was designed to compare the survival time of mice with intracerebrally implanted ependymoblastomas that were treated with the above method with the survival time of controls. Eight groups of C₃ H male mice were subjected to intracerebral implantation of ependymoblastoma. Five days following implantation, each group was subdivided into four subgroups, and the subgroups were treated with intravenous normal saline, intravenous antibody, intracarotid L–phenylalanine mustard and intracarotid L–phenylalanine mustard followed by intravenous antibody, respectively. The treated mice showed statistically significant increase of survival time, as compared with the controls. It is possible that by changing some of the treatment parameters, more long-term results can be achieved.