title: Classic Kaposi's sarcoma: T-lymphocyte subsets, T4/T8 ratio, and NK cell activity.
abstract: Lymphocyte function as expressed by T-lymphocyte subsets and natural killer cell activity was evaluated in a group of Israeli patients with classic Kaposi's sarcoma. T-cell subsets were examined in 28 patients, 14 with lesions limited to the lower extremities and 14 with diffuse cutaneous or systemic involvement. CD4 and CD8 lymphocytes and CD4/CD8 ratio were in the normal range in all patients, and mean values of the entire group were similar to a control group. However, CD8 was in the upper limits of the normal range in some patients with diffuse cutaneous or systemic involvement. This factor led to a significantly decreased CD4/CD8 ratio in that group as compared with the group of patients with the disease limited to the lower extremities. Mean values of natural killer cell activity in three effector/target cell ratios were significantly decreased in 13 of the patients with Kaposi's sarcoma with lesions limited to the lower extremities and in all of the patients with normal T-cell subsets and CD4/CD8 ratios.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Rambam Medical Center, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Friedman-Birnbaum
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weltfriend
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pollack
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001132:Arm; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D007585:Jews; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000473:pathology*; D007866:Leg; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000208:ethnology / Q000473:pathology*; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology / Q000473:pathology*; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000473:pathology*; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000473:pathology*; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000473:pathology*; D013997:Time Factors