Relationship between monocytosis and T-lmphocyte function in human cancer.

This study was designed to: 1) determine the relative number of monocytes in mononuclear cell suspensions derived from the peripheral blood of cancer patients and 2) ascertain if any relationship existed between the numbers of monocytes in those cell suspensions and T-lymphocyte function. Monocytes were quantitated by morphology verified by phagocytosis of antibody-coated erythrocytes. A significant difference (P less than or equal to 0.01) existed between the number of monocytes in suspensions from normal individuals (26.2 +/- 4.3) and cancer patients (38.0 +/- 13.4). The cancer patients were divided into 2 groups: 1) those who exhibited normal in vitro T-cell responses to phytohemagglutinin and 2) those in whom responses were significantly suppressed. The mean number of monocytes in suspensions from the cancer patient group with normal responses was 29 +/- 9, whereas that from the cancer patients with suppressed responses was 47 +/- 11, a highly significant difference (P less than or equal to 0.01). Therefore, the study demonstrated two things: 1) Mononuclear cell suspensions derived from cancer patients exhibited significant monocytosis relative to those from normal individuals and 2) a strong correlation existed between monocytosis and suppressed T-lymphocyte function in vitro.