In vitro responses of peripheral blood and spleen lymphoid cells to mitogens and antigens in childhood Hodgkin's disease.

Over the past 5 years, parameters of immunological function have been determined in all children with biopsy-proven Hodgkin's disease in the Department of Pediatrics, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. This report summarizes the in vitro responses of lymphocytes to stimulation by mitogens and antigens (between January 1975 and December 1976) in 33 of these previously untreated patients. In nine of these patients, responses of the splenic lymphocytes were studied concomitantly with the responses of peripheral blood lymphocytes. Peripheral blood from normal children and adults was used as the control. Our results have demonstrated no significant differences between the responses of normal children and adult controls. The absolute necessity for concomitant studies of the controls and the patients was shown. The value of examining multiple concentrations of a single mitogen was also well defined. In the children with Hodgkin's disease, there was a consistent failure of the peripheral blood lymphocytes to respond to the lower concentration dose of phytohemagglutinin. However, this abnormality was not found in the splenic lymphocytes.