Trypanosoma cruzi, Cancer,

and the Cold War 1

2

Grigorii Roskin, c1930

3

The discoverers of “KR” preparation: Nina Kliueva and Grigorii Roskin, 19464

New York Times headlines, 1946

5

Parin and Soviet oncologists in the US Surgeon General Office6

N. Kliueva and G. Roskin

Biotherapy of Malignant Tumors

1946

7

New York Times, 1947, 18 January, p. 2.

8

Murray J. Shear Theodore S. Hauschka

11

Kliueva and Roskin’s new institute for studies on KR, c19509

June 25, 1948: Experiment IV (left); Controls IV (right)10

Lankenau hospital, Philadelphia

National Cancer Institute (NCI)Bethesda, MD

12

Murray J. Shear Theodore S. Hauschka

11

“Cruzin” and “Trypanoza”

H. R. A. Cabral Institute de Biología Celular, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Ciudad Universitaria, Córdoba, Argentina

The tumoricidal effect of Trypanosoma cruzi: its intracellular cycle and the immune response of the host

Medical Hypotheses (2000) 54(1), 1–6

V. D. Kallinikova † , Z. Batmonch, E. G. Kravtsov, L. P. Karpenko, L. V. Pachorukova, and T. A. OgloblinaDepartment of Invertebrate Zoology, Moscow State UniversityDepartment of Microbiology, Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia;

Antibodies against Trypanosoma cruzi Accompanying the Antitumoral Action of Lysed Epimastigotes in vivo

Moscow University Biological Sciences Bulletin, 2008, Vol. 63, No. 2, pp. 72–76.

1. Trypanosomes might disorganize the metabolism of the infected organism and, thus, inhibit the development of tumors, which, according to a belief common at that time, required a large and possibly specific supply of materials from the host-organism.

2. Like malariotherapy, trypanosome infection might stimulate a non-specific immunological reaction that, in turn, could affect implanted tumors.

3. Trypanosomes might intrude into tumorous cells and directly destroy them.

4. Either trypanosomes excreted certain toxins that had a directly destructive effect on tumorous cells, or the host-organism produced antibodies against trypanosomes (or their toxins), which, at the same time, appear co-active against tumorous cells.

Each one or any combination of the four hypothetical factors might play a role in the inhibition of tumor transplants by trypanosome infection.

TRYPANOSOMES AND THE BIOTHERAPY OF TUMORS