Effects of cryopreservation on the mononuclear cells of patients with lung cancer and normal controls.

Studies were carried out to determine the effects of cryopreservation on the mitogen-induced proliferative and immunoglobulin-producing abilities of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (MNC) of patients with lung cancer and normal controls. One-half of each sample of cells was tested fresh, while the other half was frozen, thawed immediately, and cultured at the same time. The responses of each sample of cryopreserved cells were compared to the responses of fresh cells from the same individual in simultaneous assays. The cryopreserved mononuclear cells of most of the lung cancer patients showed significantly enhanced plaque-forming cell (PFC) responses after stimulation with pokeweed mitogen (PWM). No such significant differences were observed between the proliferative responses of cryopreserved and fresh cells against phytohemagglutinin (PHA) or PWM stimulation. The cryopreserved MNC of some of the normal controls also showed a similar increase in the PFC responses, although to a lesser extent. Coculture of cryopreserved B cell-enriched populations of cells with fresh T cell-enriched fractions obtained from these patients also resulted in the generation of a higher number of PFCs as compared to the number of PFCs observed after coculture of fresh B and T cell-enriched populations. The results indicate that the suppressor activities of monocytes/macrophages and other non-T cells (NK cells) are sensitive to cryopreservation. The results also show that the MNC of patients with lung cancer can be cryopreserved and used for subsequent B and T cell assays.