A modified leukocyte adherence inhibition test in the laboratory investigation of gastrointestinal cancer.

A modification of the leukocyte adherence inhibition (LAI) technique has been used to test 60 hospital patients with gastrointestinal symptoms, for specific immunoreactivity against extracts of tumours of colon, pancreas and stomach. The modified technique employed mononuclear cells and soluble tumour extracts in glass test tubes, the non-adherent cells being enumerated in an electronic counter. Laboratory tests were completed before the eventual diagnosis was known. Groups of patients with adenocarcinoma of colon or rectum (11), carcinoma of pancreas (3) and adenocarcinoma of stomach (6) were clearly distinguished from each other and from patients with non-malignant diseases or with neoplasms of different histological type.