[Detection of natural killer cells activity in patients with laryngeal carcinoma using the 51Cr release assay]

The NK activity has been examined in a 4-hour 51Cr release assay in 59 untreated patients with laryngeal carcinoma, 46 untreated patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma and 18 untreated patients with other head and neck carcinomas. The kinetic changes of NK activity in 10 patients with laryngeal carcinoma before and after surgery was also observed. The results showed that the NK activity of patients was significantly lower than that of the normal control and decreased progressively in the advanced cases. A significant decrease in NK activity in laryngeal carcinoma patients was found 3-5 days after surgery, and an increase in activity was seen more than one week later. These results suggest that the test of NK activity in untreated laryngeal carcinoma patients might be a parameter to predict the course and prognosis of the disease.