Polymorphonuclear neutrophil chemiluminescence response mainly in patients with cancers

Abstract

Human polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) have been shown to have a cytotoxic effect on tumor cells primarily by utilizing the mechanism of oxidative metabolism. The PMN chemiluminesence response (CL) dependent on Luminol (3-aminophthalic hydrazide) was studied in 60 patients with cancers along with 24 patients with benign diseases to determine the oxidative metabolic activities. The mean peak CLR was 45.6+11.6 relative intensity (RI) (m±SD) in the healthy control group. Although no significant abnormalities were demonstrated either in patients with cancers of the stomach, colon, lung and breast or in subjects with benign disorders such as peptic ulcer, ulcerative colitis, cholelithiasis and so forth, the peak CLR of PMNs obtained from sixteen patients with advanced gastric cancer in which the depth of the tumor invasion is extended to the propria muscle layer or more deeply was 26.7±12.7RI. This was significantly (p<0.05) less than that observed in the healthy control group. The results suggest that PMNs in advanced gastric cancer patients may have defective oxidative metabolistm or impaired tumoricidal and bactericidal activity.