title: Spontaneous lymphocyte transformation in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.
abstract: In ten patients with CLL and in eight controls T lymphocytes were separated out by the rosetting method. The in vitro reactivity of these cells and of unseparated lymphocytes was studied in cultures without stimulants. A net increase of spontaneous lymphocyte transformation was found in the populations enriched with T cells in patients with CLL with respect to analogous populations in the controls. This increase is interpreted as a cell-mediated immunological reaction and due to T-cell sensitization towards the neoplastic B cells.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D006801:Humans; D007945:Leukemia, Lymphoid / Q000276:immunology*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008875:Middle Aged; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology