Monocyte and lymphocyte interaction in patients with advanced cancer. Evidence for deficient IL-1 production.

Patients with advanced neoplasms have a variety of immunologic abnormalities, including the impaired responsiveness of peripheral blood lymphocytes to mitogen and alloantigen. In the current study it was observed that cancer patients have increased monocyte suppressor cell activity that is mediated by prostaglandins and contributes to the depressed proliferative response of the patients' T-cells. This monocyte suppression, however, is not the major cause of the depressed proliferative response. The study also demonstrated that levels of interleukin 1 (IL-1) produced by lypopolysacharide-activated monocytes from cancer patients are significantly lower than they are in normal subjects.