Mononuclear cell subsets in patients with oral cancer.

Peripheral mononuclear cells of ten patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and ten controls were evaluated for their cell subset composition. Flow cytometry experiments using commercially available subset-specific monoclonal antibodies (of the Leu series) were conducted to determine the percentage and fluorescent pattern of cell subsets. Leu-1+ (total T-cells), Leu-2a+ (T suppressor/cytotoxic cells), Leu-3a+ (T-helper/suppressor-inducer cells), Leu-7+ (natural killer cells), Leu-12+ (B-cells), and Leu-M3+ (monocytes) were analyzed. No significant difference was found between patients and controls in most instances; however, Leu-7+ cells were increased in patients (P less than 0.01). Preliminary experiments (and published evidence) suggest that this increase in Leu-7+ cells reflects an increase in natural killer cells, induced by a soluble factor released by squamous cell carcinoma cells.