CELL MEDIATED IMMUNORESPONSIVENESS IN PATIENTS WITH BLADDER CANCER

STUDY USING AGE MATCHED CONTROL AND MULTIPLE DOSE SPECIFIC MITOGENS

Abstract

Cell mediated immunocompetence in 20 patients with bladder cancer(transitional cell carcinoma) and 21 healthy donors as age matched control was studied by in vitro lymphocyte stimulation to PHA and ConA, and simultaneously lymphocyte subpopulation was studied.
To avoid artifact from anesthesia, radiotherapy, cytotoxic drugs and immunological senescence in elderly patients all of which may lower lymphocyte reactivity, blood samples from patients were obtained before any treatment and usually blood from an age matched control such as a spouse or normal volunteer was simultaneously tested.
Since the optimal concentration of mitogen for lymphocyte stimulation may vary among individuals, a wide range of mitogen concentration was always used and peak response at the optimal dose was used for the evaluation.
As a result following conclusions were obtained although more patients should be evaluated, particularly these in advanced stage.
The majority of stage A patients without evidence of recurrence showed normal lymphocyte responsiveness to mitogens. Stage A patients who had recurrence within one year showed a consistently diminished lymphocyte reactivity in vitro.
Patients with diffuse carcinoma in situ were not always associated with poor lymphocyte reactivity.
Patients with more advanced disease tended to have a reduced T lymphocyte reactivity in vitro which did not correlate with the relative proportion of circulating T-cell.