T lymphocyte subpopulations in blood following radiation therapy for breast cancer.
T helper and T suppressor lymphocyte subpopulations were examined before and after postoperative adjuvant radiation therapy for breast cancer. Absolute numbers of all T cell subsets were reduced by 70-80%. The proportion of IgG-Fc receptor-bearing T cells (Tg cells) was significantly reduced and that of IgM-Fc receptor-bearing T cells (Tm cells) significantly increased at completion of local radiation therapy with 45 Gy (4500 rad). Proportions of T suppressor (Ts) and T helper (Th) cells determined by monoclonal antibodies were not changed by radiation therapy. The overlapping between Tg and Ts subpopulations was 20-30% as examined by double labelling.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008875:Middle Aged; D011961:Receptors, Fc; D012397:Rosette Formation; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000145:classification* / Q000276:immunology; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000276:immunology; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D011961:Receptors, Fc