Assessment of the functional activity of human lymphocytes in malignant disease by the local graft-versus-host reaction in rats and the T rosette-forming cell test.

The local graft-versus-host reaction (GVHR) and the spontaneous rosette-forming cell (RFC) test were used to test the functional activity of lymphocytes in blood obtained from twenty normal donors and thirty patients with malignant tumours. The lymphocytes of all twenty control donors gave a positive GVHR and had normal RFC values. In twenty-two of the thirty patients with malignancies the GVHR was negative; of these, only five had low RFC values. In the remaining eight patients the GVHR was positive and RFC values were normal. It is concluded that the local GVHR constitutes a sensitive test for measurement of the functional activity of lymphocytes, while the RFC test can only be used as a quantitative test.