[Effects of nephrectomy and interferon administration on immunological parameters in patients with renal cell carcinoma].

To study the changes in the subsets of peripheral blood lymphocytes before and after nephrectomy and interferon (IFN) therapy, 57 patients with renal cell carcinoma were divided into three groups; one group consisted of 16 patients with metastasis who had been administered IFN-alpha, one group consisted of 16 patients without metastasis who had been administered IFN-alpha, and the other consisted of 25 patients without metastasis who had not been administered IFN-alpha. Immunological parameters such as percentages of NK (Leu-11+ [Leu-7-) cells, percentages of activated CD4 (Leu-3a+ HLA-DR+) positive cells and percentages of activated CD8 (Leu-2a+ HLA-DR+) positive cells were examined by two color flow cytometry and the percentages of CD4 (Leu-3a+) positive cells, percentages of CD8 (Leu-2a+) positive cells values and the ratio of percentages of CD4 positive cells/percentages of CD8 positive cells were evaluated. The percentages of NK cells showed a tendency to decrease after nephrectomy and the administration of IFN-alpha. The percentage of CD4 positive cells showed a significant increase after the administration of IFN-alpha. The percentage of activated CD4 positive cells and the ratio of percentage of CD4 positive cells/percentage of CD8 positive cells showed a tendency to increase slightly. The percentage of CD8 positive cells and percentage of activated CD8 positive cells showed no particular changes. There was a specific correlation between the administration of IFN-alpha and the changes of percentage of CD4-positive cells and this suggests that the administration of IFN-alpha led to the increase of helper T cells.