CLINICAL-STUDIES ON CELL-MEDIATED-IMMUNITY IN PATIENTS WITH URINARY-BLADDER CARCINOMA - BLASTOGENIC RESPONSE, INTERLEUKIN-2 PRODUCTION AND INTERFERON-GAMMA PRODUCTION OF LYMPHOCYTES

Summary— Patients with advanced malignant neoplasms have a variety of abnormal lymphocyte functions. We examined the PHA blastogenic response, interleukin‐2 (IL‐2) production and interferon‐y (IFN‐y) production of lymphocytes in 39 bladder cancer patients and 20 control subjects. Correlation between these parameters was also studied. IL‐2 production was measured by 3H‐thymidine‐labelled CTLL‐2 assay, and IFN‐γ production was measured by immunoradiometric assay using 2 mouse monoclonal antibodies. As a result, in high stage bladder cancer patients, the PHA blastogenic response, IL‐2 production and IFN‐γ production were impaired. However, these parameters were not significantly different between low stage bladder cancer patients and control subjects. There was a significant correlation between the PHA blastogenic response and IL‐2 production but no significant correlation between the PHA blastogenic response and IFN‐γ production. © 1990 British Journal of Urology