Assay of the Activities of Human Tumor Necrosis Factor and Natural Killer Cell in Patients with Lung Cancer / 中国医师杂志

ABSTRACT

To study the changes of activities of tumor necrosis factor(TNF),natural killer cell (NKC) in patients with lung cancer and clarify the influence of clinical factors on the activities,we observed the level of TNF from peripheral blood cells by detective method of whole blood cell-derived TNF,and NKC activity was also observed with DNA-fluorometric assay for cytotoxic effect in thirty-five patients with lung cancer.The results showed that the NK activity in lung cancer patient was seriously inhibited and got worse with disease phase progress,tumor size and the extent of lymph node metastasis,but it was not associated with the pathological type.The extent and time of reduction of NK activity were related to the quality of primary lesion.As for the changes of TNF activity,PBMC (peripheral blood mononuclear cells) were activated under the presence of tumor to secrete a high level of TNF,which was not related to the stage of disease,the tumor diameter,the extent of lymph node metastasis and type of pathology.These results indicate that the cellular immune function in lung cancer patient is seriously impaired,and the function of immunoregulation is in a complicated chaotic status.We consider that the determination of the activities of TNF and NKC may provide a theoretical evidence for comprehensive treatment of patients with lung cancer.