Mitogen-induced gamma interferon production in peripheral blood lymphocytes from patients with colorectal tumors.

Mitogen-induced interferon production in peripheral blood lymphocytes from patients with colorectal tumors was not significantly different from that observed in patients with Crohn's disease and sex- and age-matched controls. In the group of patients with colorectal carcinomas, no correlation was obtained with regard to the interferon titer, the in vivo lymphocyte proliferation and the clinical stage of the disease or tumor staging and grading respectively. Most importantly, the data show that despite an obvious defect in T-lymphocyte proliferation, measurement of lymphokine production in mitogen-stimulated cell cultures was not impaired.