[Differentiation of lymphocyte populations in the blood of breast-cancer patients].

The number of T lymphocytes has been determined in the peripheral blood of 90 women (65 patients with breast cancer and 25 healthy controls) using a sheep-erythrocyte rosetting technique and a cytochemical method for intracellular localization of a nonspecific acid esterase. Both tests were in agreement in showing a significant depression of T-cell percentage in a group of patients with progressive disseminated breast cancer under hormonal and chemotherapeutic treatment. After radiotherapy a fall in T cells was observed only with the rosetting method. Possible reasons for this phenomenon are discussed.