Activated killer cell activity in lymph nodes.

The activated killer cell activity of cells from the perigastric lymph nodes (LNC) in patients with gastric carcinoma or benign lesions was assayed in comparison with that of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBM). The cytotoxic activity induced by phytohemagglutinin (PHA) activation in LNC from patients with either carcinoma or benign lesions was significantly decreased as compared to that in PBM, although the ability to produce interleukin 2 (IL 2) in LNC was significantly increased. Therefore, the ability to generate cytotoxic cells after activation with IL 2 was examined, and decreased capacity in LNC was observed. In LNC, the proportion of OKT3+ cells was similar to that in PBM, with a prevalence of OKT4+ cells over OKT8+ cells. Also, the percentage of Leu-11+ cells was remarkably reduced. The results indicated that decreased levels of the activated killer cell activity, which might be partially attributable to the composition of lymphocyte subsets, existed in lymph nodes, and this might facilitate tumor metastasis to the regional lymph nodes.