Phytohemagglutinin-induced lymphocyte transformation in newly presenting patients with primary carcinoma of the lung.

The transformation of peripheral blood lymphocytes in response to PHA was studied in 37 newly presenting patients who were subsequently proven to have carcinoma of the lung. When compared with healthy age- and sex-matched normal controls, no differences were noted in the thymidine uptake of the unstimulated lymphocytes in culture or in the response to any of the three dose levels of PHA used. Neither the extent of the spread of the carcinoma nor the type of its histology showed any correlation with the PHA response, but the PHA response was significantly depressed within 14 days of death in 7 patients. No evidence for serum inhibitory factors was found.