The effects of surgery on lymphocyte transformation in patients with cancer

Abstract

Lymphocyte response to phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) in vitro was subnormal in twenty-two out of thirty-six patients with various types of non-lymphoid malignancy. After apparently successful surgery, lymphocyte response improved significantly in most of those in whom it had been previously impaired; it remained markedly subnormal in only two patients, one of whom subsequently died of metastases. This finding indicates that depressed cell-mediated immunity in patients with cancer is the result of the malignant disease. Failure of the PHA response to revert to normal post-operatively may indicate a poor prognosis.