To determine the cell-mediated immune responses in patients with malignant disease (lymphoid and non-lymphoid), the response of peripheral lymphocytes to phytohemagglutinin (P.H.A.) in vitro?which has been shown to reflect the integrity of the thymus, dependent system of lymphocytes were studied in 58 patients suffering from a variety of malignancies and 32 control subjects.
The lymphocytes were cultured for 72 hours in TC-199 medium supplemented by 25% fetal calf serum under the stimulation of P.H.A.. Transformation of lymphocytes was based on changes in cell morphology. The results are summarized as follows:
1. In control group, the mean value of morphologic transformation of lymphocytes was 71.8±13.7%.
2. Mean value of lymphocyte transformation rate (LTR) obtained in 58 cancer patients was 47.5±21.4 %. It was significantly reduced in patients with cancer, compared with that in the controls.
3. Mean value of LTR from patients with solid cancer (43.4+19.2%) was similar to that found in the patients with hematopoietic-lymphoid malignancies (51.9±24.5%).
4. The following LTR were obtained in various solid (non-lymphoid) tumors: Hepatoma 43.7?22. 0%, Lung cancer 41.3?22.8%, Stomach cancer 45.2?14.4%. This data seem to indicate that there is a little correlation of in vitro lymphocyte reactivity to P.H.A. with histologic type of solid cancers significantly differ from the value obtained in the patients with distant metastasis (37.6%±16.3%). The results suggest that the degree of LTR may not be related to the extent of the non-lymphoid neoplasia.
6. The mean LTR in each group of various hematopoietic-lymphoid malignancies were as follows: Malignant lymphoma 45.2±19.2%, Acute leukemia 66.9±16.3%, Multiple myeloma 59.5±6.5%0, chronic myelocytic leukemia 65.6±11.2%, Chronic lymphocytic leukemia 4.6±1.2%. The above findings reflect a distinct impairment of lymphocyte response in patients with malignant lymphoma, but the results in patients with acute leukemia, multiple myeloma and chronic myelocytic leukemia, compared with controls, were not significantly reduced. The most marked imparement of transformation occured in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
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