ABSTRACT
It has been previously demonstrated by the authors that lymph nodes from patients with head and neck cancer are capable of regional immunoreactivity and that this immunoreactivity could be enhanced with certain nonspecific immunostimulants. However, it is unknown how metastases to the neck nodes would affect this immunoreactivity. The purpose of this study is to compare the immunoreactivity of matched node pairs (metastatic versus nonmetastatic) from head and neck cancer patients. The soft agar assay system was the methodology employed. The effect of nodal lymphocytes on tumor growth in soft agar was studied with and without nonspecific immunostimulation in both normal and metastatic nodes from the same location in the neck in 16 patients. The results demonstrate that lymph nodes from head and neck cancer patients are capable of an immune reaction to cancer, and that this immunoreactivity appears to be significantly increased in metastatic lymph nodes with and without the use of specific immunostimulants.
Subject(s)
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/immunology , Head and Neck Neoplasms/immunology , Lymph Nodes/immunology , Antibody Formation , Humans , Lymphatic Metastasis , NeckABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the interaction of human neck node lymphocytes with primary tumor cells could be modulated with the administration of bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) or N-acetylmuramyldipeptide (MDP). The procedures involve the clonogenic assay applied towards studying the interactions of neck node lymphocytes with the tumor-stem cell population. It has been previously demonstrated that a dynamic interaction occurs between neck nodal lymphocytes and tumor. Bacillus Calmette-Guérin or MDP was incubated for three days with lymphocytes from neck nodes, after which the human squamous tumor cells from the patient were exposed continuously to the resulting lymphokines in soft agar. Ninety percent of the cases studied exhibit inhibition of tumor cell proliferation with BCG- or MDP-treated lymphocytes. The data suggest both BCG and MDP may enhance regional nodal lymphocyte tumor inhibition.
