Variations in lymphokine generation by individual lymph nodes draining human malignant tumors

Individual lymph nodes draining tumors vary in their degree of immunological activity. Cell suspensions from tumor-free nodes located relatively near to tumors are spontaneously less reactive and respond poorly to exogenous stimulation by mitogens and lymphokines. Diminished spontaneous uptake of tritiated thymidine by lymph node cells not exposed to exogenous stimulation suggests that tumor-proximate immune suppression exists in vivo and is not purely a laboratory artefact. The present study was undertaken to explore that possibility further. Fluid in which cell suspensions from tumor-free nodes were prepared, and supernatants from short-term cultures of nodes located at different distances from tumors were compared for their capacity to inhibit the in vitro migration of the human lymphoblastoid cell line QIMR-WIL. Inhibitory activity of fluids from individual nodes was related to their position relative to the tumor and their immune competence, assessed by the responses to mitogens of cell suspensions prepared from them. Cell suspension fluids from 92/111 nodes (83%) significantly inhibited the migration of QIMR-WIL, at a level similar (44 +/- 14%) to that induced by the supernatants of mixed lymphocyte cultures (43 +/- 17%). Fluids from the nodes of melanoma patients were more inhibitory than those from breast cancer patients (49 +/- 12% and 37 +/- 13%, respectively, P = 0.003). The inhibitory activity of the different nodes of individual node groups varied significantly in 25 of 33 patients (76%), the node nearest the tumor generating least inhibitory activity (indexing the greatest immune suppression) in 20 of these 25 patients (80%). The strength of migration-inhibitory activity was concordant with the responsiveness to mitogen stimulation in up to 14 of 18 patients (78%). Studies of molecular size and heat stability indicated that the inhibitory factors had characteristics consistent with common migration-inhibitory lymphokines such as leukocyte-migration-inhibitory factor, macrophage-inhibitory factor and interleukin-2. Our findings further support the hypothesis that lymph nodes nearest to tumors are relatively immune-suppressed in vivo.