The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Vol 74, 506-518, Copyright © 1977 by The American Association for Thoracic Surgery and The Western Thoracic Surgical Association
Immunoprofile studies for patients with bronchogenic carcinoma. I. Correlation of pretherapy studies with survival
GA Liebler, JP Concannon, GJ Magovern, MH Dalbow and SE Hodgson
The general immune competence of 146 patients with bronchogenic carcinoma
was measured, prior to irradiation therapy, by determining
dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) reactivity, delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity
(DCH) response to microbial antigens, peripheral lymphocyte counts,
peripheral T and B lymphocyte counts, and the response of patient's
lymphocytes to stimulation by phytohemagglutinin (PHA), concanavallin A
(Con A) and pokeweed mitogen (PWM). Analyses were performed by the
life-table method to determine the correlation of the immune status of
these patients with survival rates. Statistically significant differences
in survival were noted between the groups of patients with normal values
when compared with the patients with abnormal values for the majority of
the tests of general immunity. A stage of disease correlation with survival
rate was noted for all groups of patients with abnormal immune
measurements, but it was absent for many of the immune parameters when
patients with normal values were compared. The effects of histology, age,
and sex did not appear to influence the survival data as significantly as
did the immune status of the patient. These data indicate that measurements
of general immune competence may be of significant prognostic value for the
management of patients with bronchogenic carcinoma. The measurement of DNCB
reactivity shows the strongest correlation with survival rate.
