Relationship of lymphocyte invasion and survival of brain tumor patients.

The length of survival of 149 patients harboring primary brain tumors was retrospectively correlated with the presence and location of lymphocytic infiltration. Mononuclear invasion of malignant gliomas confined to the perivascular spaces was the only histolgical finding that correlated significantly with survival. Patients with malignant gliomas containing perivascular infiltration live up to four months longer than those with no lymphocyte infiltration. The survival of patients with brain tumors who had lymphocyte invasion associated with areas of hemorrhage and necrosis beyond and separate from perivascular spaces was the same as far as for those with no lymphocyte involvement.