Blastformation rate of peripheral blood lymphocytes before and after recurrence of cancer.

Following curative resection for gastrointestinal cancer, it has been demonstrated that the blastformation rate rises slightly 3-4 months before the recurrence of cancer and that, during the two months prior to recurrence, the blastformation rate of peripheral blood lymphocytes to PHA decreases rapidly. The blastformation rate, therefore, if monitored routinely postoperatively, should be a significant improvement in predicting any recurrence of the cancer.