[Decreased count of small lymphocytes in the blood of patients with malignant bone tumors]. / Snizhenie soderzhaniia malykh limfotsitov v krovi bol'nykh so zlokachestvennymi kostnymi opukholiami.

Blood small lymphocyte (not exceeding 7.5 micron in diameter) counts obtained from patients with malignant bone tumors in the course of primary examination were 40-75% those in healthy subjects. The said changes were registered only in some patients with osteoblastoclastoma; they were not observed in cases of trauma, osteomyelitis, sepsis, spontaneous osteolysis and chronic synovitis. The study failed to establish a correlation between blood small lymphocyte count, on the one hand, and concentrations of total, stable and active T-lymphocytes as well as autologous E-rosettes, on the other. In the course of separation of lymphocytes in percoll density gradients, small lymphocytes concentrated in high density fractions. Purified small lymphocytes of healthy subjects appeared to be mainly T-lymphocytes, particularly, "activated" ones. Proliferative response to PHA and production of interleukin-2 in cell cultures showing high levels of small lymphocytes were higher than in those with moderate or low concentration of the said cells. Small lymphocytes are considered to be a special subset of T-cells which exhibit high functional activity and may be identified only morphologically. Lowered counts of these cells are attributed to neoplastic growth.

[Comparative analysis of immune response indices in lung cancer]. / Sravnitel'nyi analiz pokazatelei immunologicheskoi reaktivnosti pri rake legkogo.

In 43 patients with cancer of the lung, a number of immunologic indexes were evaluated including lymphocyte response to PHA, lymphokine production, serum immunoglobulin levels and the regulatory effect of sera and T-lymphocytes on lymphokine production. No significant deficiency in T- and B-lymphocytes was registered in patients with stage I-III cancer, nor any rise in TG cell level was in evidence. The response to PHA was low; however, the capacity to produce lymphokines in the presence of allogeneic or autologous tumor antigens was unimpaired. Purified T- and TG-cells isolated from blood or tumor tissue suppressed immune response in leukocyte migration inhibition test. However, this effect was not related to the increase in levels of these cells in the circulation. The autologous sera of practically all tumor-sensitized patients exerted a blocking effect in vitro. This effect was related neither to levels of serum immunoglobulins, nor to those of blood TG cells.

[Comparative analysis of immunoreactive indices in malignant and benign bone tumors]. / Sravnitel'nyi analiz pokazatelei immunologicheskoi reaktivnosti pri zlokachestvennykh i dobrokachestvennykh opukholiakh kostei.

The paper discusses the results of a study of immunologic surveillance in patients with bone tumors. T-lymphocyte deficiency was found in 21-32% of cases only, while all patients showed changes in the level of some T-cell subpopulations and their ratio. Patients with malignant tumors (mostly osteosarcoma) revealed a lowered response to PHA and a high frequency of sensitization to tumor antigens. In those cases, serum, blood--circulating T-cells and tumor--infiltrating lymphocytes showed a suppressor activity. A moderately decreased response to PHA, a low frequency of sensitization to tumor antigens and a stimulating activity in serum, blood--circulating T-cells and lymphocytes were registered in cases of benign tumors (mainly giant cell tumors). Suppressor activity of blood T-lymphocytes was matched by a high level of TG cells, while stimulating effect--by a low one.

[Detection of suppressor lymphocytes in the blood of oncological patients by using a 3-component lymphocyte mixed culture]. / Vyiavlenie limfotsitov-supressorov v krovi onkologicheskikh bol'nykh s pomoshch'iu trekhkomopnentnoi smeshannoi kul'tury limfotsitov.

A 3 component mixed lymphocyte culture was used to identify the suppressor cell activity of lymphocytes in the blood of patients suffering from osteogenic sarcoma, osteoblastoclastoma and lung tumor. The lymphocytes of these patients suppressed the blastogenic reaction of lymphocytes from two unrelated donors. The suppressive activity of the lymphocytes form the patients with bone sarcoma was the strongest. In most cases, a direct correlation was found between the suppressive activities of lymphocytes and serum from the same patients.

[Lymphocyte subpopulations in malignant bone tumors and their relation to the immune response to the tumor]. / Subpopuliatsii limfotsitov v kostnykh slokachestvennykh opukholiakh i ikh sviaz' s immunnym otvetom na opukhol'.

Comparative studies of the subpopulations of lymphocytes, isolated from the tumor tissue and blood of 15 osteosarcoma patients, showed that the total lymphocyte count in the neoplasms ranged from 0 to 19% of the total cell population. In various patients tumor lymphocytes were represented either mainly by T cells (up to 80% of lymphocytes) or by "null" cells lacking any surface markers. The population of lymphocytes with surface membrane immunoglobulins with complement and Fc receptors was usually low although the tumors contained up to 90% of nonlymphoid cells with the same markers. Lower (less than 60%) counts of blood T lymphocytes were found only in one third of osteosarcoma patients. The immune response of blood lymphocytes against living autologous tumor cells was found in 85% of the patients, and its intensity depended on the content of T lymphocytes in tumor but not in blood.

[In vitro immune response of patient lymphocytes to live autologous tumor cells]. / Immunnyi otvet in vitro limfotsitov bol'nykh na zhivye kletki autologichnoi opukholi.

In 87% of patients with malignant tumors and in 24% of patients with benign tumors there was found the in vitro immune response of lymphocytes to autologous tumor cells. Most of the autologous sera influenced the immune lymphocytes: those of malignant tumor patients usually blocked while those of benign tumor patients stimulated the immune reaction. Both the blocking and stimulating serum activities could be removed by absorption of the sera with living autologous tumor cells. Following the absorption intact sera of some patients with malignant tumors obtained the blocking capacity.

[Leukocyte adhesion suppression reaction for determining the immunological reactivity of oncological patients]. / Reaktsiia podavleniia prilipaniia leikotsitov dlia opredeleniia immunologicheskoi reaktivnosti onkologicheskikh bol'nykh.

By means of the reaction of inhibition of leucocytes adhesiveness, suggested by Halliday and his coworkers, the authors examined the immune reactivity of 52 oncological patients and 25 healthy donors. The specific cell activity was observed only in oncological patients, and mainly against the antigen from autologous or histologically identical tumor. In a third of patients under examination blood serum would block the specific cell activity. The intensity of the reaction was enhanced in immunotherapy with FHA activated lymphocytes. The sensitivity of the reaction involved proved to be higher than that of the reaction of lymphocytes migration inhibition by the same antigens.