1990 Volume 81 Issue 7 Pages 1051-1057
The immune responses in patients with renal cell carcinoma were evaluated from the production of interleukin-2 (IL-2), the expression of IL-2 receptors and the activity of lymphokine activated killer (LAK) cells. In addition, the effect of the patient's serum on the expression of IL-2 receptors and LAK activity were investigated.
The production of IL-2 by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBM) from patients with renal cell carcinoma was not suppressed, when compared with that in controls. However, the expression of IL-2 receptors tended to decrease with the progression of clinical stage. The LAK cells generated by PBM of patients with renal cell carcinoma had significant cytotoxic activity against Daudi cells, ACHN cells and autologous tumor cells, while autologous serum suppressed the expression of IL-2 receptors and the induction of LAK cells in patients with renal cell carcinoam. Furthermore, serum from patients with renal cell carcinoma suppressed the cytotoxic activity of LAK cells generated by PBM from a normal volunteer. These results indicated the presence of immunosuppressive factors in the serum of patients with renal cell carcinoma which impaired the clinical effect of treatment using IL-2 or LAK cells.
