title: Correlation between lymphocyte responsiveness to mitogens and results of chemo-immunotherapy in patients with advanced cancer.
abstract: The effect of chemo-immunotherapy on lymphocyte responsiveness to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and pokeweed mitogen (PWM) was investigated in patients with advanced cancer. Patients received OK-432, a streptococcal preparation, intratumorally and additional systemic MFC (mitomycin-C, 5-fluorouracil, and cytosine arabinoside) chemotherapy intravenously. Patients with high lymphocyte responsiveness to mitogens at the beginning of treatment were more responsive to chemo-immunotherapy than those with low responsiveness. Furthermore, lymphocyte responsiveness to PHA was maintained at a high level throughout the treatment. In contrast, patients with initially depressed lymphocyte responsiveness maintained low responsiveness throughout the treatment. A significant increase of inhibitory activity of the serum was observed in patients with poor results of treatment. From these results, it seems reasonable to conclude that the response to chemo-immunotherapy might be predicted by in-vitro lymphocyte responsiveness.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001688:Biological Products / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008937:Mitomycins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D010835:Phytohemagglutinins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010844:Picibanil / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011043:Pokeweed Mitogens / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D001688:Biological Products; D008937:Mitomycins; D010835:Phytohemagglutinins; D011043:Pokeweed Mitogens; D010844:Picibanil; D005472:Fluorouracil