Cell-Mediated Immunity in Cancer Patient (I)

It has been reported that the cell-mediated immunity in cancer patient decreased and was related to clinical stage of cancer and prognosis. One of the indicaters of the grade of cell-mediated immunity is the blastoid transformation of peripheral lymphocytes by phytohemagglutinin (PHA). Quantitive evaluation of lymphocyte blastogenesis was made by incorporation of ^<3>H-thymidine in blastogenic lymphocytes cultured with PHA and recorded by “Stimulation Index” (S.I.). In lymphocyte response curve by PHA, S.I. value of cancer patients was about one-third of the healthy volunteers. The ratio of both S.I. was the biggest at the concentration of PHA of 5μl/ml. Average values of S.I. of healthy volunteers and cancer patients were 61.9 and 27.8, respectively. The S.I. of cancer patients was lower than healthy volunteers.