[The effect of radiotherapy on various immunological features in genital and breast carcinoma (author's transl)].

Lymphocyte transformation under phytohaemegglutinin (PHA), spontaneous rosette formation and immunoglobulin concentration were measured in women with genital or breast carcinoma. It was found that (1) DNA synthesis of lymphocytes under PHA was normal in women with stage I and II cervical carcinoma, slightly decreased in stage III; (2) DNA synthesis of lymphocytes under PHA was slightly but significantly decreased in untreated patients with breast carcinoma; (3) after radiotherapy, both for cervical and body of the uterus carcinoma, there was a significant decrease of PHA-stimulated DNA synthesis of lymphocytes compared with healthy females and with patients at the same stage of tumour spread not treated by radiotherapy; (4) there was no significant difference in spontaneous rosette formation between radiated patients with cervical or breast carcinoma, on the one hand, and healthy controls and non-radiated patients, on the other; (5) IgG levels were slightly but significantly decreased in patients with ovarian carcinoma while in cervical, breast and body of the uterus carcinoma they were normal, IgA and IgM levels were significantly raised.