Effect of serum from cancer patients on homologous lymphocyte cultures

Abstract

A study was undertaken to attempt to quantify the alleged inhibitory effect of the serum of cancer patients on in‐vitro lymphocyte transformation. The sera of ten cancer patients, ten patients with non‐neoplastic diseases, and ten healthy controls were separately tested in short‐term tissue cultures of donor lymphocytes. All cultures were grown in triplicate and repeated on three different occasions. Lymphocyte transformation was measured by radioactive thymidine uptake. There was no significant difference between the lymphocyte transformation occurring in the presence of the serum of cancer patients and of that found in the serum of healthy controls. Under the conditions of this study, we have been unable to confirm the presence of a decreased response to phytohemagglutinin by normal lymphocytes grown in cultures with sera of cancer patients.

Phytohaemagglutinin-induced lymphocyte transformation in patients before and after resection of large intestinal cancer

“…These findings contrast with those obtained in a mixed group of cancer patients, including some with colonic cancer in whom the proportions of transformed cells differed little, if at all, from normal values (Al-Sarraf, Sardesai, and Vaitkevicius, 1971). The significance of these results is hard to assess because of the mixed varieties of cancer studied and because in the same investigation cell transformation was inhibited markedly by allogeneic cancer or non-cancer plasma, an effect which we and others have been unable to detect (Golob, Israsena, Quatrale, and Becker, 1969).…”

Lymphocyte transformation in large bowel cancer

“…However, the possibility remains that cells may be " precoated " with the inhibitor, thus blocking the PHA receptors. The data of Al-Sarraf, Sardesai and Vaitkevicius (1971) and Golob et al (1969) suggest that the inhibitory effect of cancer serum is likely to be nonspecific and can be observed in any allogeneic plasma. Against this view is the presence of serum inhibitory factors in other conditions …”

Disturbance of cell-mediated immunity in patients with carcinoma of colon and rectum

“…The discrepancies reported might be due to some extent to differences in methodology. Another factor is probably that results obtained from the study of various neoplastic diseases have been discussed together (Golob, Israena, Quatrale, and Becker, 1969;Al-Sarraf, Sardesai, and Vaitkevicius, 1971) on the assumption that whatever immunological disturbance occurs in one neoplastic disease should be present in other neoplasias, a conclusion which does not seem to be justified. In a study of patients suffering from carcinoma of the breast on the one hand and benign breast disease on the other, it was clearly shown that the inhibiting factor was present in the serum of the cancer patients (Whittaker, Rees, and Clark, 1971).…”