[The activity of immunologic cells from peripheral blood, splenic venous blood and spleen in patients with advanced gastric cancer. A comparative study].

To elucidate the immunologic function of the spleen in AGC patients, peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL), splenic venous blood lymphocytes (SVL) and spleen cells (SC) from 40 patients were tested for NK cell activity and T-cell subsets. Significant impairment of NK cell activity, decreased rate of CD+3 and CD+4 cells, declined CD+4/CD+8 ratio, and increased CD+8 cells were noted in SC of AGC patients as compared with PBL of normal subjects. NK cell activity and CD+4 cells of SVL and SC were significantly lower than those of PBL in AGC patients. More significant decline of CD+4/CD+8 cell ratio was found in SVL and SC when compared with PBL in AGC, mainly as a result of the marked decrease of CD+4 cells in SC. In conclusion, AGC tends to weaken the immune status of patients and the immunosuppressive role of the spleen would become more evident with the development of the tumor.