Immunomodulation in vitro. The predictive value of in vitro testing of lung cancer patients' lymphocyte responsiveness to stimulation by Thymex L. A preliminary report.
Eleven lung cancer patients were selected for combined radio and immunotherapy with a thymic agent-Thymex L. The selection criteria included the pre-therapy testing of patients' immunocompetence and the responsiveness of their lymphocytes to the in vitro addition of Thymex L: only patients with a significant degree of immunodepression, whose depressed cellular immunity parameters (the number of total and active T cells and their mitogen-induced lymphoproliferative response) were significantly increased upon this agent's action in vitro, entered the study. The results of the pre-therapy in vitro stimulation correlated with those obtained after completion of radioimmunotherapy: the administration of Thymex L along with radiotherapy seances prevented iatrogenic deterioration of initial depression of general immunocompetence and enabled to overcome it to a certain degree. This indicates that pre-therapy in vitro testing has a true predictive value. However, the initial immune disturbances were not normalized by immunotherapy; the post-therapy testing of the patients' lymphocytes to the addition of Thymex L in vitro showed that these cells possessed a residual potential to respond by a significant increase of the active T cell number and proliferative capacity, suggesting that immunotherapy could be prolonged in order to potentiate cellular immunity in immunodepressed lung cancer patients.
Vucković-Dekić
L
L
Institute for Oncology and Radiology of Serbia, Beograd, Yugoslavia.
Stanojević-Bakić
N
N
Rajner
L
L
Dekić
M
M
Pesić
M
M
D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D006801:Humans; D007159:Immunologic Tests; D007167:Immunotherapy; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000628:therapy*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology*; D010835:Phytohemagglutinins / Q000494:pharmacology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D013268:Stimulation, Chemical; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology*; D013949:Thymus Extracts / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D010835:Phytohemagglutinins; D013949:Thymus Extracts; C092820:Thymex-L