Cell-mediated immunity in patients with mycosis fungoides in clinical remission: effect of thymic humoral factor on the immunocompetence of the lymphocytes.

In 10 patients with mycosis fungoides (MF) who were in clinical remission following local treatment with nitrogen mustard, cell-mediated immunity was investigated by means of tests for lymphocytes, forming rosettes in the peripheral blood, and the graft-vs-host reaction as well as intradermal skin tests. The effect of thymic humoral factor (THF) on T lymphocytes with impaired immunecompetence was also investigated. The results provided evidence of various kinds of damage to the immunologic system in most of the patients. Of the 10 patients, 4 had low percentages of T cells. Eight of the 10 had a graft-vs.-host reaction which was weak or negative, and in 4 of these, the administration of THF to the lymphocytes induced an improvement in immunoreactivity. These results together with other recently reported data indicate that the determination of cell-mediated immunity in patients with MF may be of prognostic importance. Those patients whose T lymphocytes respond to treatment with THF are probably the best candidates for immunotherapy.