title: Suppressor cell activities in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
abstract: Depression of mitogenic responses in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is well documented. The cause of depression has been supposed to be the presence of elevated suppressor cell activity in the peripheral blood of NPC patients. Both spontaneous and Con A-induced suppressor cell activities were examined in 56 pathologically verified NPC patients and 36 age-matched controls. The data showed no alteration of spontaneous or Con A-induced suppressor cell activities in NPC patients. Neither did the quality and quantity of suppressor cell activities correlate with the clinical stage. Therefore the question becomes whether elevated suppressor cell activities might cause the depression of mitogenic responses in NPC patients? Future research on helper cells and intrinsic abnormalities of immune responding cells at the molecular level are suggested.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000276:immunology*; D003208:Concanavalin A / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology*; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D003208:Concanavalin A