Depressed responder and stimulator capacities of peripheral lymphocytes from patients with advanced breast cancer in the mixed lymphocyte culture.

Peripheral lymphoid cells of patients with carcinoma of the breast were examined for reactivity (responders) against allogeneic lymphoid cells in the one-way mixed lymphocyte culture. The latter cells were also tested for response against the patients' lymphocytes (stimulators). The responder and stimulator capacities of lymphoid cells of patients with advanced cancer were found to be significantly reduced compared to cells from healthy subjects. Such defects were not observed in disease-free women previously treated for primary carcinoma of the breast. The results support the view that there is an abnormality of the lymphocyte-monocyte pool of cells in patients with advanced cancer.