title: Immunosuppression by human skin cancers.
abstract: Biopsy samples from normal skin (12 samples) and skin lesions diagnosed as either basal cell (17 cases) or squamous cell carcinoma (5 cases) were frozen, disrupted and extracted with aqueous buffer. The sterilised extract was added to an in vitro system of cultured bovine lymphocytes. The response of the lymphocytes to PHA was measured by tritiated thymidine uptake. Extracts of both basal cell and squamous cell cancers inhibited normal PHA stimulation of lymphocyte mitogenesis. Blastogenesis was reduced by more than 50% by all of the cancer extracts tested. In contrast, similar extracts from normal skin showed less than 40% inhibition.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001706:Biopsy; D002280:Basal Cell Carcinoma / Q000276:immunology; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000276:immunology; D002417:Cattle; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D010835:Phytohemagglutinins / Q000494:pharmacology; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D010835:Phytohemagglutinins