Response of remission lymphocytes to autochthonous leukaemic myeloblasts.

Thymidine incorporation in vitro by remission lymphocytes from a total of 6 patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) was measured following stimulation by autochthonous and allogeneic AML blasts and cell lines. The early peak response to autochthonous blasts in 2 of these patients (48-72 h) is consistent with the concept of a population of lymphocytes pre-immunized to antigens carried by the blasts. Although stimulation in one patient was increased in the presence of more stimulating (S) blasts than responding (R) lymphocytes, positive responses in other tests were obtained at an S : R ratio of 1 : 1-5. When different methods of treatment of the stimulating autochthonous blasts were compared with untreated cells, mitomycin C gave the highest stimulation indices 2 out of 3 tests. Tissue culture medium in which autochthonous blasts had been incubated for 3-5 days failed to stimulate either remission lymphocytes alone, or combined cultures of lymphocytes with autochthonous or allogeneic blasts, suggesting that mitogenic factors released from autochthonous blasts are not responsible for lymphocyte stimulation. Treatment of autochthonous or allogeneic AML blasts with glycine-HC1(pH 3-0) to remove putative "blocking" factors failed to increase the stimulatory capacity of the leukaemic blasts.