[Clinical significance of a skin test (SU-PS) for immune responses in patients with gastrointestinal cancer treated with OK-432].

Using the Su-PS skin test, an attempt was made to evaluate whether or not this reaction could become a useful immune parameter in patients with gastrointestinal cancer. The conclusions were as follows: Late-stage patients with gastric cancer showed a weak response in the Su-PS skin test when examined preoperatively. The skin reaction to Su-PS was shown to become stronger than in the PPD and PHA test when patients received OK-432 treatment. Patients with advanced cancer having longer survival (more than 7 months) showed stronger response in the Su-PS skin test that patients having short survival (less than 6 months). It was suggested that the Su-PS skin test was useful for evaluating the immune response to OK-432 treatment.