The SCM test for cancer. an evaluation in terms of lymphocytes from healthy donors and cancer patients.

The SCM test was established as originally described, and an attempt was made to evaluate it using myelin basic proteins. Various later modifications described by the original authors were incorporated as they were communicated to us. In separate studies attempts were also made to overcome some of the problems which seemed inherent in the technique. In the small series for which valid results were obtained we were unable to confirm the original claim that the method discriminates between cancer patient lymphocytes and those from non-cancer subjects with almost 99% reliability. Indeed, although differences were found between the mean SCM values of cancer patients and of healthy controls, these differences were not significant.