Current concepts of tumor immunology. II. Tumor immunodetection.

A great deal of investigation is presently underway to develop methods of effectively assessing the status of an individual patient's immune system. Such methods might provide a means of early detection of tumor or of indicating prognosis so that treatment modalities may be tailored to individual patient needs. The cell-mediated response may be monitored using intradermal skin tests and in vitro lymphocyte stimulation and cytotoxicity tests. Humoral responses have been monitored using assays for antibodies against tumor specific as well as tumor associated antigens. Assays have been developed which are capable of detecting circulating fetal antigens in very small concentrations. Thus far no one assay technique has proven to be sufficiently sensitive nor specific to be clinically useful. However, by utilizing a battery of tests before, during and after treatment, it is possible to determine a great deal about individual patient response to treatment and prognosis. With so many investigators focusing upon this problem, it seems likely that more effective methods of immunodetection will soon be developed.