Mixed lymphocyte reactivity of patients with solid tumors.

The mixed lymphocyte reactivity of 22 solid tumor patients was studied prior to chemotherapy using the one-way (mitomycin-inactivation) assay. In 21/22 one-way studies the response of control subject cells in control plasma against patient cells were superior to the responses of patient cells in patient plasma against control subject cells. When cultured in control subject plasma, seven patients gave a better response than when cultured in autologous plasma. In eleven one-way studies the responses of control subject lymphocytes to patient lymphocytes were depressed on culture in patient plasma when compared to results obtained when cultured in control subject plasma. The authors conclude that (1) solid tumor patients with advanced disease may have impaired mixed lymphocyte reactivity, and (2) in some instances this depressed lymphocyte function may be due to a plasma factor.