The dermal cellular infiltrate and cell-mediated immunity in skin carcinomas.

The cell-mediated immunity in nonmelanotic skin cancer was studied in 115 patients. The diagnosis and type of skin cancer was histologically evaluated. The T cell levels and leukocyte migration test in preoperative patients with squamous cell skin carcinoma (SCSC) and metatypical basal cell epithelioma were significantly lower than in the noncancer control population. The immunocompetence was not impaired in patients with basal cell epithelioma (BCE) and even in those with BCE that showed deep invasiveness and paucity of lymphocytic infiltration. There was a direct correlation between cell-mediated immunity and the lymphocytic infiltration and differentiation of the cells in SCSC.