In vitro interrelations between axillary lymph nodes and breast carcinomas from patients immunostimulated before surgery.

When stage I and II mammary carcinomas and their homolateral axillary lymph nodes were grown in the same organ culture, a phenomenon of lymphocyte migration from the nodal explants to the tumoral explants in 34% of the cases was observed. This was followed by lymphocytic infiltration in and around tumor nodules and tumoral cytotoxic effects, concomitantly with lymphocytic depletion in the nodal explants. Lymphocyte migration was particularly apparent when the axillary lymph nodes showed hyperplasia of the paracortical area and/or sinus histiocytosis. No correlation was found between the lymphocyte migration and the histologic type of disease or the degree of malignancy, but a strong correlation was observed between the lymphocyte migration and 1) the presence or absence of metastases in the explanted lymph nodes and 2) the extent of the metastatic involvement in vivo. If before surgery the patients were pretreated with a polymicrobial suspension (polidin), this immunostimulant induced a strong stimulation of the lymphocyte migration and infiltration which appeared in 92% of the cases, independently of the metastatic involvement in vivo and the presence of metastases in the nodal explants.