[Delayed hypersensitivity reactions in cancer patients: influence of the clinical stage and chemo- and radiotherapy on the immune status].

A simple and standardized new technic for evaluation of delayed hypersensitivity reactions with recall antigens, the Multitest, was applied on 186 cancer patients. The present results are: 1) Cancer patients with local disease present less important hypersensitivity skin reactions than the control subjects. The hypoergie of cancer patients is associated with the presence of distant metastases but not with the presence of regional lymph node involvement. 2) The immune depression is, at equal stages, the same in the case of breast neoplasma as in lung neoplasma. 3) Chemotherapy for breast cancer as applied in our service does not provoke depression of immune reactions. 4) Radiotherapy for breast cancer increases the anamnestic reactions. We have observed a reduction of the total number of lymphocytes as described in the literature.