Immunologic alterations in bronchogenic cancer.Sequential Study

Abstract

A sequential study of patients with cancer of the lung reveals that there is a marked alteration in delayed hypersensitivity as manifested by Dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) sensitization and purified protein derivative (PPD) reactions, when compared to age-matched controls. Short survival times (diagnosis to death) are associated with negative DNCB tests. Skin reactivity does not necessarily change as patients approach death, however. Circulating lymphocytes decrease significantly in number during the months approaching death and these counts can be plotted into a smooth regression curve with time to death as the abscissa. Humoral antibody synthesis is not altered in these patients; the circulating levels of the various serum proteins and iramunoglobulins do not alter with time nor are they biologically different from control values.