Hormones and immune responsiveness in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a B cell disorder with multiple abnormalities in T-cell function. The status of the immune system will depend to some extent upon the net effect of the changes in the equilibrium of various hormones. In order to investigate the association of the defects in the cellular immunity and hormonal dysregulation in CLL, studies were performed in 130 CLL patients with that disorder. Decreased lymphocyte proliferation in response to mitogen stimulation appears to be an early event in CLL pathogenesis and is not always influenced by the clinical stage of the disease or the specific treatment. The dysfunction of T-lymphocytes was accompanied by increased serum cortisol (C) concentrations. Elevated levels of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), 17 beta-estradiol (E) and testosterone (T) ratio were found in male CLL patients, but not in female patients. In view of our findings, it is conceivable that there are a number of disturbances in the lymphocyte-microenvironmental regulation, which may be responsible for immuno-hormonal imbalance in some patients with CLL.