Application of the macrophage migration inhibition test to screen patients with early cancer and obtain prognostic determinations of cancer treatment.
A modified direct method of the macrophage migration inhibition test (MMIT) was attempted on a large number of patients with malignant or benign tumors. Results of the MMIT in almost all patients with benign tumors were negative except for those with hydatidiform moles, dermoid cysts and viral benign tumors such as verruca plana which were positive. The number of cases determined as false positives were exceptionally few. Conversely, about the half of the patients with malignant tumors were positive. The majority of negative cancer patients were confirmed pathologically to be advanced cases and, therefore, were postulated to have been immunologically unresponsive. The remaining false negative patients were diagnosed to be very early cases with their malignant foci too small to be effective antigenic stimuli. The MMIT was also performed postoperatively on some of the patients using autologous antigens, which had been preserved by freezing, for examination of changes in the per cent migration index. The results led the authors to conclude that postoperative repetitions of the test permitted them to tell that cancer cells had been completely eradicated or that a relapse might occur in the near future. Examinations of cross reactivity between tumor antigens revealed that such reactivity exists between cancer antigens and antigens originating in hydatidiform moles and that there is also a very strong cross reactivity between allogeneic cancer antigens regardless of differences in the organs of origin. This fact suggests that the present test is effective for the screening of preoperative patients with early cancer.
D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D002464:Cell Migration Inhibition / Q000379:methods; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008264:Macrophages / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D011379:Prognosis
D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm