Monitoring of antitumor immunity in patients with larynx cancer by tube leukocyte adherence inhibition assay.

The presence of specific antitumor immunity was examined by the tube leukocyte adherence inhibition (LAI) assay in patients with carcinomas of the larynx. Peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) from patients with larynx cancer gave positive reactions in the LAI assay with the antigen prepared from the carcinoma of the larynx but not with antigen from normal larynx tissue. Adherence of PBL from normal donors did not differ significantly irrespective of whether antigens from tumor or normal larynx tissue were used. With a panel of tumor extracts tested, PBL of some patients reacted to only one antigen, wheras PBL of other patients reacted to several antigens. LAI reactivity disappeared after surgery, reappeared at 4 weeks after surgery, and then declined when patients were tumor free. These results show that the tube LAI assay may be of value in diagnosing larynx cancer and in following up its treatment.