Specific and non‐specific immunologic reactivity of regional lymph‐node lymphocytes in human malignancy

The in vitro blastogenic responses of lymphocytes from peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) and lymph‐node leukocytes (LNL) of cancer patients were examined simultaneously in paired studies. The lymph nodes were obtained at the time of surgical tumor extirpation from the area draining or adjacent to the tumor, but were determined to be tumor‐free. There was an inverse relationship between the responses of PBL and LNL to tumor cells (TC). In those subjects where the PBL responses to TC were positive (stimulation index >3), the responses of LNL were usually negative and significantly lower. In those subjects where the LNL responses to TC were positive, the PBL responses were usually negative and significantly lower. A positive response by LNL to TC correlated with a significantly higher mixed lymphocyte culture response among LNL than among PBL. There was no correlation of these responses to TC with the PBL or LNL responses to phytohemagglutinin. There was a trend for the PBL response to TC to be higher than that of the LNL in patients with gastrointestinal cancer and melanoma and lower than that of LNL in patients with breast and squamous cell carcinoma. Stage of disease and age also influenced these results.