Effect of combination chemotherapy on PGE-mediated immunoregulation in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of solid tumor cancer patients.

The effect of cytotoxic chemotherapy on phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-induced lymphocyte DNA synthesis was monitored in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of drug-treated solid tumor cancer patients. The results obtained were correlated with changes in indomethacin-sensitive immunoregulatory function, prostaglandin E (PGE) levels, and PBMC PGE sensitivity. Those patients who demonstrated "rebound-overshoot" recovery of PHA responsiveness following their drug treatment did so in association with a significant reduction in levels of indomethacin-sensitive immunoregulation. This was associated with a significant decline in PGE-levels in PBMC. This was not consistently associated with a reduction in the sensitivity of PBMC to suppression by PGE. These data show that immune function recovery in drug-treated cancer patients is dependent in part on the effects of chemotherapy on PGE synthesis by PBMC.