Total T lymphocytes in primary bronchial carcinoma.
Percentage and absolute levels of circulating T lymphocytes were measured in 48 patients with bronchial carcinoma. These were compared with control values from nine healthy adults and 19 age-matched patients with benign disorders. A further 20 patients who had been given postoperative immunotherapy after complete resection of bronchial carcinoma were also studied. There was no significant difference in the mean percentage T cells between the groups. Lymphopenia, however, was a feature of the bronchial cancer patients with metastatic disease. This resulted in a significant diminution of absolute T cells in this group. There is no evidence, with the technique employed in this study, of a total T-cell deficiency in early bronchial carcinoma.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001984:Bronchial Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008231:Lymphopenia / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*