Immune responsiveness of patients with malignant melanoma and carcinoma of the breast.

Lymphocyte blastogenesis (LB) with PHA, CON-A, PWM, VII (homologous tumor extract) plus T/B ratio for pre-IT, post-IT (2 months), and 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 months prior to each VII booster are reported. Pre-IT and post-IT LB-PHA were similar for Stage I (ST I) or Stage II (ST II) breast cancer (BC) patients who expired or survived. The pre-booster results were similar except that prior to death, stimulation with PHA decreased. Melanoma (MM) patients LB-PHA pre-IT showed less stimulation for ST I patients than for ST II patients (survivors and expired). LB-CON-A and LB-PWM showed similar results with slight variations. When compared to survivors, LB-VII for BC patients who expired showed no stimulation. MM patients showed different results in LB-VII. T/B ratios for BC patients during the first 3 months showed 72% normal (N), 14% below N, and 14% above N for survivors and 40% normal (N), 60% below N, and 0 above N for expired. MM T/B ratio were not remarkable. LB anamnestic response to immune stimulation evaluated in 16 of the 62 BC and 10 of 81 MM patients showed increased peak levels over trough for survivors and a decrease for expired. The significance of data as in vitro correlates of clinical response is discussed.