TY - JOUR
AU1 - Prehn, Richmond
AB - Background: There is a vast and contradictory literature concerning the effect of the spleen and particularly of splenectomy on tumor growth. Sometimes splenectomy seems to inhibit tumor growth, but in other cases it seems, paradoxically, to facilitate both oncogenesis and the growth of established tumors. Approach: In this essay I have selected from this large literature a few papers that seem particularly instructive, in the hope of extracting some understanding of the rules governing this paradoxical behavior. Conclusion: In general, whether splenectomy enhances or inhibits tumor growth seems to depend primarily upon the ratio of spleen to tumor. Small proportions of spleen cells usually stimulate tumor growth, in which case splenectomy is inhibitory. Larger proportions of the same cells, especially if they are from immunized animals, usually inhibit tumor growth, in which case splenectomy results in tumor stimulation. quantity of the same reactants, relative to the amount of Spleen cell/tumor cell mixtures For a general but detailed description of the spleen and its tumor, is inhibitory. functions see [1]. To reiterate, as illustrated in Figure 1 (which first appeared In one of my own studies, I showed that when a relatively in [3]), immune spleen cells, and seemingly the 
TI - The paradoxical effects of splenectomy on tumor growth
JF - Theoretical Biology and Medical Modelling
DO - 10.1186/1742-4682-3-23
DA - 2006-06-26
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/springer-journals/the-paradoxical-effects-of-splenectomy-on-tumor-growth-GWtkHE0mbe
SP - 1
EP - 6
VL - 3
IS - 1
DP - DeepDyve
ER -