[Natural killer (NK) activity of peripheral blood and regional lymph nodes in patients with genitourinary malignant tumors. 2. NK activity and T-lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood and regional lymph nodes].
We investigated natural killer (NK) activity and T-lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood and regional lymph nodes in order to examine the host's defence mechanisms against cancer. The materials were obtained from 26 patients with genitourinary cancer and 9 patients with benign diseases, who were used as controls. NK activity was measured by ATP-chemiluminescence (ATP) assay, a new method which is well correlated to the 51Cr-release assay, and T-lymphocyte subsets were stained with anti-Leu-2, -3, -4, -7, and -11 monoclonal antibody. The NK activity of regional lymph nodes was lower than that of the peripheral blood in all 35 cases, and the percentage of Leu 7+ and Leu 11+ cells was in agreement with that of the NK activity detected by ATP assay. In the peripheral blood, the percentage of Leu 3+ cells was lower in high stage patients than it was in low stage patients and controls, but in the regional lymph nodes it was paradoxically higher. The NK activity of regional lymph nodes against autologous tumor cells was low in 8 patients with bladder cancer. It appears from this study that the regional lymph nodes have no function as immunological barriers for metastasis and we therefore conclude that they should be dissected during surgery.
Yamashita
M
M
Kamei
Y
Y
Fujita
Y
Y
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006801:Humans; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology*; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000276:immunology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000145:classification*; D014565:Urogenital Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology*