Lymphocyte-tumor cell interaction in patients with head and neck cancer.

Peripheral lymphocytes from 12 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the lead and neck were incubated with autologous tumor explants. Four of the 12 patients demonstrated lymphocyte induced tumor cytotoxicity. These lymphocytes adhered to the tumor cells and deposited a radioactive label from their surface onto tumor cells. The deposition of this label was associated with tumor death. Tissue sections from those patients who demonstrated lymphocyte cytotoxicity showed a marked plasmacytic infiltration. This was in contrast to non-responders where only a desmoplastic tissue response was observed with few inflammatory cells.