Stewart L D, Ades E W
Clin Immunol Immunopathol. 1984 Apr;31(1):78-86. doi: 10.1016/0090-1229(84)90191-0.
Natural killer (NK) cells have been implicated as an initial immunosurveillance mechanism for carcinogenesis in humans. Work in the murine system as well as the findings of depressed NK activity in patients with advanced malignancies and the discovery of increased incidences of cancer in humans congenitally deficient in NK ability have supported this. Few prospective studies have demonstrated a prognostic change in NK activity with respect to malignant disease course. In 32 healthy donors, NK activity against K562 was determined. No race or sex difference existed with respect to NK cell function. Esophageal (5), bronchogenic (3), breast (3), cervical (3), and endometrial (1) cancer patients who had received no prior chemotherapy were compared to controls. All patients subsequently received radiotherapy. Prior to such treatment NK activity could not be associated with stage of malignancy. Of the 15 patients studied, 11 were sequentially followed. Five of eight patients with stable or improving clinical courses as assessed by weight and Karnofsky scores were found to have increasing NK activity. Two of three patients with poor clinical courses presented with subnormal killing which never rose to normal while the third declined to subnormal before expiring. Esophageal, cervical, and endometrial carcinoma patients all presented with low or subnormal NK activity. Of these, only cervical and endometrial cancer patients exhibited an increase to normal levels.
自然杀伤（NK）细胞被认为是人类致癌过程中的一种初始免疫监视机制。小鼠系统的研究工作，以及晚期恶性肿瘤患者NK活性降低的发现，以及先天性NK能力缺陷的人类癌症发病率增加的发现，都支持了这一点。很少有前瞻性研究表明NK活性在恶性疾病进程方面有预后变化。对32名健康供体测定了其针对K562的NK活性。在NK细胞功能方面不存在种族或性别差异。将5例食管癌、3例支气管癌、3例乳腺癌、3例宫颈癌和1例子宫内膜癌且未接受过化疗的患者与对照组进行比较。所有患者随后都接受了放疗。在这种治疗之前，NK活性与恶性肿瘤分期无关。在研究的15名患者中，对11名进行了连续随访。根据体重和卡诺夫斯基评分评估，8例临床病程稳定或改善的患者中有5例NK活性增加。3例临床病程较差的患者中有2例杀伤能力低于正常水平且从未恢复正常，而第3例在死亡前降至低于正常水平。食管癌、宫颈癌和子宫内膜癌患者的NK活性均较低或低于正常水平。其中，只有宫颈癌和子宫内膜癌患者的NK活性增加到正常水平。
