Stage-associated incidence of serum circulating immune complexes in patients with untreated bronchogenic carcinoma

Abstract

Serum circulating immune complexes were quantitated by means of a C1q-binding enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in the serum from 46 untreated bronchogenic carcinoma patients, and the results compared with those obtained in 48 patients with nonmalignant thoracic diseases and 75 normal healthy donors. The incidence and levels of serum immune complexes in the bronchogenic carcinoma patients were found to be akin to those previously observed, and no modifications of their levels were found to result from surgery. We also found a high degree of association between the presence of immune complexes and the lung cancer stage as defined by the tumor (T), node (N), metastasis (M) system. However, our data indicate that their occurrence has neither a prognostic value, as determined after analyzing the late outcome of the patients, nor a diagnostic one, since the incidence of immune complexes in patients with nonmalignant thoracic diseases was found to be similar to that in the bronchogenic carcinoma patients.