Abstract
Serum inhibition of autochthonous lymphocyte cytotoxicity for tumour cells has been studied in 112 cases of colonic carcinoma. Addition of patient's serum to the lymphocyte tumour cell reaction mixture resulted in decreased cytotoxic reactivity of lymphocytes from 8 of 39 cytotoxic positive cases. It was also shown that sera could inhibit if separately preincubated with the lymphocytes (4 cases) or the target cells (2 cases). A tumour antigen preparation inhibited only when incubated with the lymphocytes. Inhibition by serum or antigen appeared to be specific for colon carcinoma. Four cases were specially studied to determine the mode of lymphocyte killing of tumour cells: in 3 it was mediated largely if not entirely by T lymphocytes, and in the fourth by both T and non-T cells. The findings support the view that T lymphocytes lose their anti-tumour reactivity in vivo in the presence of circulating antigen or antigen-antibody complexes such as would occur with progressive tumour growth.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 24 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $10.79 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nind, A., Matthews, N., Pihl, E. et al. Analysis of inhibition of lymphocyte cytotoxicity in human colon carcinoma. Br J Cancer 31, 620–629 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1975.108
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1975.108
This article is cited by
-
Rezidivprognosen bei Patienten mit Adenocarcinomen des Gastrointestinaltraktes auf der Basis von Carcinoembryonalem Antigen (CEA) und seinen zirkulierenden Immunkomplexen
Klinische Wochenschrift (1980)
-
Combined treatment with BCG and chemotherapy for metastatic gastrointestinal cancer
Diseases of the Colon & Rectum (1977)
-
Age-related impairment of tumor-associated lymphocytotoxicity in patients with colonic adenocarcinoma
Diseases of the Colon & Rectum (1977)