[The possible evaluation of immunity with the DNCB skin test in relation to blast transformation of lymphocytes]. / Possibili valutazioni immunitarie del test cutaneo al DNCB in rapporto alla blastizzazione linfocitaria.

55 patients with various types of malignant neoplasias at different stages were given DNCB skin tests in the Oncological Department of the S. Paolo Hospital in Savona. Lymphocyte blastisation was evaluated both before and after the skin test. In about 75% of the patients it was observed that DNCB sensitisation increased lymphocyte blastisation capacity independently of the level of reaction to the skin test, the type of neoplasia or the patients' age. Indeed increased blatisation was more noticeable in non-responsive DNCB. The hypothesis is advanced that DNCB has the capacity indirectly to stimulate blastisation by unknown mechanisms.

[The epicutaneous DNCB test and CEA determination in neoplasms of the breast, digestive tract, lung and urogenital system]. / Test epicutaneo al DNCB e dosaggio del CEA nelle neoplasie della mammella, dell'apparato digerente, del polmone e dell'apparato uro-genitale.

110 patients observed over a three-year period suffering from cancer of the breast, digestive apparatus, lung and urogenital apparatus, and submitted simultaneouly to the DNCB skin test and to radioimmunological measurement of CEA have been studied. Confirming what has already been reported, the epicutaneous findings and laboratory results show there is an almost constant correlation between marked reactivity to DNCB and normal CEA titre and that, on the contrary, ml response to immune stimulation is often matched by a pathological CEA value. It is maintained that this type of cross investigation may be important for prognosis as the basis for initial assessment of the probable clinical course of the disease and the response of the patient to immunochemotherapeutic treatment.