Cellular immunecompetence in patients with malignant melanoma

Abstract

The nonspecific immunecompetence of the peripheral blood lymphocytes of 29 patients with malignant melanoma and one with the benign condition of Riehl's melanosis was tested by means of a local xenogeneic graft-versus-host reaction and the E rosette test. The lymphocytes of 20 normal donors served as controls. Impairment of cellular immunecompetence was found in patients with invasive multiple primaries and those with invasive nodular malignant melanoma. Functional activity of T lymphocytes was normal in most of the patients who had an invasive melanoma with adjacent intraepidermal component of Hutchinson melanotic freckle or superficial spreading. In three cases with superficial spreading in which there had been an impairment of T cell function before removal of the tumor, there was an improvement following surgery. There was a clear correlation between the patient's cell-mediated immune response and the pathological type of the tumor, but not with the depth of invasion. It is suggested that cellular immunecompetence is a valuable parameter in the prognosis and treatment of malignant melanoma and should be measured in all patients with this type of tumor.