[Diminution of the percentage of mononucleated phagocytes in patients with breast cancer].

Phagocytic activity of macrophages obtained directly from blisters induced by cantharide was studied in 19 normal women and 21 patients with untreated operable carcinoma of the breast. The percentage of mononuclear phagocytes from cancer patients was significantly decreased as compared to the percentage from control Women. The reasons for this phagocyte inertia in these patients remain to be determined.