Cellular hypersensitivity in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix

A group of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix were tested for cellular hypersensitivity prior to the initiation of therapy. Fourteen of 15 patients manifested inhibition of leukocyte migration with homologous tumor extracts, and 13 patients showed inhibition with autologous tumor extracts. Lymphocytes from 10 to 11 patients exhibited cytotoxicity for a homologous cell line and lymphocytes from 4 to 5 patients, for autologous cell lines. These results indicate that the absence of cellular hypersensitivity is infrequent in patients with squamous cell carcinoma. A comparison of the degree of sensitivity detected by use of each test showed a good correlation in a group of 10 patients. The efficacy of both autologous and homologus antigens to react with sensitized leukocytes supports the hypothesis that these antigens are tumor related. Although no correlation was found among the immunologic tests, clinical status of the patient, or prognosis based on the evaluation of several histologic parameters, further studies are needed to determine the usefulness of these tests as a prognostic index in individual patients, especially in patients with Stage I carcinoma.