Cellular and Humoral Immunity in Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma: Correlation of Immunodeficiencies with Clinicopathologic Factors

Abstract

Immune function was evaluated in 28 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients in an attempt to correlate the occurrence of immunodeficiency with the prognostic clinicopathologic factors, lymph-node histology, and clinical stage of disease. Anergy to a battery of recall antigens occurred infrequently (4/28) and only in patients who had Stage IV disease (4/8) (p = less than .004), but did not correlate with lymph-node histology. In contrast to anergy, cellular immunodeficiencies were often detected by lack of response to keyhole limpet hemocyanin immunization in patients regardless of stage. Reductions in at least two of three Ig fractions were found in a third of the patients, with, again, a significantly greater incidence in Stage IV patients (p = less than .005). No significant correlation with histologic type was possible. The response to phytohemagglutinin in vitro was reduced in the patients, but this was of no correlative value.