Increased number of phagocytic cells among the peripheral blood lymphocytes of mammary tumor patients.

Blood lymphocytes of 15 malignant mammary tumor patients and 16 healthy blood donors were tested for latex particle phagocytosis. The mononuclear cell fraction of breast cancer patients has been shown to contain significantly higher number of phagocytic cells (39.13 +/- 13.93%) compared to the values of healthy controls (20.34 +/- 6.96%) (p less than 0.01). It was demonstrated that the majority of phagocytic cells adhered to the glass of the hemocytometer, thus they could be distinguished morphologically from the non-adherent, non-phagocytic cells. The number of ingested latex particles per phagocytic cell was also higher in patients. This result shows that the activity of phagocytic cells was also increased in mammary tumor patients compared to controls.