CD4+8- T lymphocytes with potent antitumor activity in vivo were obtained in peritoneal exudate cells by immunizing mice with irradiated MM48 tumor cells admixed with OK-432. These immune CD4+ T cells were used in adoptive immunotherapy for prevention of lymph node metastases after removal of the primary tumor. Complete cure of metastases was obtained by adoptive transfer of CD4+ T cells admixed with irradiated MM48 tumor cells, but not by CD4+ T cells alone. To analyze the curative effect of admixing tumor cells on the prevention of metastases, a model of 1-day tumor inoculated with macrophages was used. Administration of immune CD4+ T cells alone resulted in the regression of local tumor in more than half of the mice, although all of them eventually died of lymph node metastases. On the other hand, adoptive transfer of immune CD4+ T cells plus irradiated tumor cells resulted in the complete regression of local tumors in all the mice, which survived without any sign of metastasis. The curative effect of the immune CD4+ T cells obtained by admixing irradiated tumor cells was tumor-specific. Macrophages induced by OK-432 (tumoricidal), implanted together with tumor, assisted tumor regression more than did macrophages elicited by proteose peptone (non-tumoricidal) in the same adoptive transfer system. Administration of recombinant interleukin-2 instead of stimulant tumor cells did not enhance, but rather eliminated the constitutive antitumor activity of CD4+ T cells. On the other hand, exogenous recombinant interleukin-1 was more effective in the enhancement of antitumor activity of the CD4+ T cells as compared with stimulant tumor cell administration. In this case, the activating states of macrophages at the implanted tumor site had no influence on the therapeutic efficacy. A possible role of macrophages for induction of tumor-specific cytotoxic T cells that were mediated by tumor-specific CD4+ T cells is discussed.