[Immunological studies on patients with mycosis fungoides]

Recently, much has been published on the immunological status of patients affected with various lymphomas. In the particular case of Mycosis fungoide, there was no general agreement on the immunological status of the corresponding patients. In fact, López Borrasca et al, found severe depression of cellular immunity in such patients. On the contrary, Blaylock and Clendenning found very little change in cellular immunity, but a very high serum-IgA. We want to offer our experience on this problem with the immunological survey of four patients with the Alibert-Bazin-form of Mycosis fungoide. The following tests were performed on each patient: a) Intracutaneous test with candidina, PPD and other bacterial antigens. b) Sensitization to a concentrate solution of dinitrochlorobencene (DNCB). c) Lymphocyte Transformation Test (LTT), with phytohemagglutinin as mitogen. d) Quantitative determination of IgG, IgM, IgA and beta1C, with the radial immunodiffusion technique (Mancini et al.). e) Agar immunoelectrophoresis. The following results were obtained: 1) The cellular immunity was markedly depressed in the four patients when any of a, b or c-test was performed. 2) All the patients showed very high levels of serum IgA, 150% higher than control. The reason for this is unknown. On the contrary, IgG in serum was less elevated and IgM and beta1C serum levels were normal. 3) No monoclonal bands were found in any case (immunoelectrophoresis). 4) No definite conclusions could be reached due to the limited number of cases, but the uniformity of results should encourage to carry this work further.