Abstract
Patients with advanced malignant disease show an apparent lesser degree of lymphocyte sensitization to cancer antigen when tested under standard conditions than do early cases. In the serum of cancer patients there is a lymphocyte response depressing factor whose titre rises as the neoplasm becomes more extensive. The low lymphocyte response shown by advanced cancers is not, however, directly referable to this rise in depressive factor, but to removal by the tumour mass of specifically sensitized lymphocytes so that amongst the standard number of cells under routine test an adequate number does not remain to give a full response. Increasing the number of cells under test restores the result to the level found in moderately sized cancers. The "absorptive capacity" of large tumours for circulating sensitized lymphocytes is greater than can be provided by natural immunization produced by the tumour. Active immunization with a tumour antigen can be expected therefore to increase lymphocyte-associated defence against cancer.
Highlights
Summary.-Patients with advanced malignant disease show an apparent lesser degree of lymphocyte sensitization to cancer antigen when tested under standard conditions than do early cases
IT has previously been reported (Field and Caspary, 1970) that patients suffering from malignant neoplasia show lymphocyte sensitization to encephalitogenic factor (EF)-a low molecular weight basic protein isolated from human brain (Caspary and Field, 1965) and capable of producing allergic encephalomyelitis in guinea-pigs when injected in very small doses
Later it was found that a similar small protein antigen could be isolated from a variety of malignant tumours and that lymphocytes from patients with such tumours showed even higher sensitization to this than to EF (Caspary and Field, 1971)
Summary
Summary.-Patients with advanced malignant disease show an apparent lesser degree of lymphocyte sensitization to cancer antigen when tested under standard conditions than do early cases. TABLE I.-Normal Subjects and Patients with Benign Neoplasia (a) Lymphocyte depressive factor (LDF) in serum Titre of LDF
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