One of the areas of critical interest in the biology of plasma cell tumors concerns the requirements of these tumor cells for specific growth factors necessary either for their development or survival. We have previously demonstrated that mice lacking the IL-6 gene are completely resistant to tumor induction by retroviruses containing raf and myc oncogenes. Thus, these tumors are completely IL-6 dependent. However, plasma cell tumors are induced when raf is replaced by the Abl oncogene. Current studies are directed toward understanding the specific interactions between Abl and cellular signaling pathways that lead to deregulation of normal growth as well as the identification of other signaling abnormalities that contribute to tumor development.
T cells induce terminal differentiation of transformed B cells to mature plasma cell tumors.