Emergence of low-mobility T lymphocytes in cancer patients and its clinical significance.

Electrophoretic mobility of lymphocytes from healthy individuals and cancer patients was analyzed by means of a fully automated cell electrophoresis apparatus (Parmoquant). Electrophoretic mobility histograms showing two distinct peaks were obtained with peripheral blood lymphocytes from normal subjects. A border line was placed at the mobility of 0.95 microns/sec/V/cm, and cells slower than this were designated as low-mobility cells (LMC) and faster cells as high-mobility cells (HMC). LMC, constituting the slower peak, consisted mainly of B cells and a small number of T cells (LMT). HMC, the constituent of the faster peak consisted of two types of T cells (HMT). In patients with malignant tumors, analysis revealed lowered electrophoretic mobility of T cells, with T/B ratios comparable to those in normal subjects. An increase in the percentage of LMT seemed characteristic of suppressed immunity in cancer patients since it showed a strongly positive correlation with the percentage population of IgG . FcR-positive T lymphocytes and with the serum level of immunosuppressive substance. The incidence of abnormal LMT/HMT ratios was highest in patients with recurrent cancer, and it was also high in the advanced stages of gastrointestinal cancer. This index could provide useful information for the early detection of cancer relapse during postoperative follow-up. A fully automated electrophoresis apparatus greatly facilitated the measurement (5 min/100 cells) and permitted quantitative and statistical analysis of mobility histograms of cell electrophoresis.