title: Disease stage related in vitro responsiveness of peripheral blood T-lymphocytes in patients with head and neck carcinoma.
abstract: The in vitro responsiveness of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) T lymphocytes was studied in 81 patients with limited or extended head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), as judged by T, N and T + N stages. Patients included in the study were males below 80 years of age, without auto-immune disease or cachexia, who were not taking any immuno-active medication at the time of diagnosis. The patients were divided into groups according to TNM stage T0-2 vs T3-4, N0-1 vs N2-3 or T + N0-3 vs T + N4-7. When cells from patients with early and late stage, according to T, N or T + N stage, were compared, we found a decreased level of mitogen stimulated T-cells and decreased spontaneous proliferation with increasing disease stage. The same was true if the in vitro mitogenesis of T-cells was analysed separately, depending on the laryngeal or oral cavity/pharyngeal origin of the patients' tumours. If the patients were divided into two groups based on N stage, decreased gamma-interferon, and to some extent interleukin (IL-2), but not IL-4 levels, were found to be related to the disease stage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Heimdal
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Aarstad
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Klementsen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Olofsson
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D003208:Concanavalin A / Q000494:pharmacology; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000032:analysis; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000032:analysis; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000032:analysis; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008934:Mitogens / Q000494:pharmacology; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010610:Pharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D007376:Interleukin-2; D008934:Mitogens; D003208:Concanavalin A; D015847:Interleukin-4; D007371:Interferon-gamma