[Effect of hydroxyprogesterone caproate on immunological skin tests and on the T-lymphocytes in cancer of the corpus uteri]. / Vliianie oksiprogesteron-kapronata na kozhnye immunologicheskie testy i T-limfotsity u bol'nykh rakom tela matki.

Under study was the effect of oxyprogesterone-capronate (500 mg daily, total dosage of 10 g) on delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity reaction (DCHR) to tuberculin and candidine as well as the level of T-lymphocytes and cortisol in the peripheral blood in 34 patients with primary cancer of the corpus uteri. Prior to the treatment there was a considerable negative correlation between metabolic and immunological indices. Under OPC exposure DCHR enhanced in 62% of observations. In 7 of 12 patients the level of T-lymphocytes was increased and blood cortiol level decreased in 6 of 11 patients. 58 per cent of the observations showed a parallelism between the effect of OPC on the skin tests and the tumor histostructure, and in 8 of 12 patients on the level of T-lymphocytes and the tumor histostructure.

[Immunologic reactivity of breast cancer patients]. / Immunologicheskaia reaktivnost' u bol'nykh rakom molochnoi zhelezy.

An attempt was made to further characterize some conditions determining the decrease of immunological responsiveness in patients with mammary gland cancer. To reveal the delayed-type cell hypersensitivity, the antigens of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, staphylococcus, fungi Candida were employed as well as a contact allergen--dinitrochlorobenzene. Tests were made prior to the treatment and in different terms after it. To determine T-lymphocytes the rosette-formation test with sheep erythrocytes was used. Also, the degree of lymphoplasmocytic infiltration of the tumor and the amount of peripheral blood lymphocytes were estimated. Under examination were 126-patients with mammary gland cancer, 56--with benign tumors and 73--practically healthy subjects. The frequency of positive skin tests for any of the antigens under study was lower in breast cancer patients than in the group with benign tumors and healthy subjects. There was no manifest inhibition of the immune response in the initial stages of mammary gland cancer.