Morphology of the spleen in women who died of metastatic genital tract cancer.

The histology of the white pulp of the spleen was assessed in 56 women who died of metastatic genital tract cancer and in 56 age-matched women who died of a myocardial infarction or a stroke. Special attention was paid to the areas associated with T cells and B cells. The T-cell and B-cell areas were profoundly depleted in patients with carcinoma. This suggests that women who die of genital tract cancer have impaired humoral and cell-mediated immunity.