Chirurgia italiana
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It is by now an established fact that the status of the immune system stands in some relationship with the onset and evolution of malignancy. To clarify this relationship the authors investigated the immune system of patients with pulmonary carcinoma, with special regard to the functions of the T and B lymphocyte lines. ⋯ With B lymphocytes the EA rosette test was often depressed, whereas antibody titers were normal or even above normal, and the pokeweed blast test was invariable above normal values. These preliminary results show that at the time of diagnosing malignancy, the greater aggressiveness characteristic of the less differentiated cellular types, or of stages of diffuse malignancy, is associated with overpowering of cell defenses and (within certain limits) enhancement of the humoral response.