Defective monocyte chemotaxis in patients with head and neck cancer. Restoration after treatment.

Monocyte chemotactic responsiveness (MCR), as measured by the monocytes' capacity to migrate through polymer (Millipore) membranes toward the chemoattractant casein, is impaired in all patients with head and neck cancer thus far examined. Using a more rapid and sensitive test system, the polarization assay, we tested the MCR in 24 patients with head and neck cancer and 31 controls and compared it with the outcomes of the well-established Boyden chamber method. The results of both methods correlated well. All patients showed a seriously depressed monocyte chemotaxis before treatment when tested in the polarization assay. Nine patients were reexamined after surgery, and in seven patients the defective MCR was restored. This illustrates that tumor-derived factors are probably responsible for the inhibitory effect on monocyte chemotaxis. The polarization assay has the potential for predicting early relapse.