[Infiltrating lymphocytes in esophageal carcinoma--II. Subsets of T lymphocytes]

The distribution of T lymphocytes and it's subsets in cancerous tissues, local lymph nodes and peripheral blood of patients with esophageal carcinoma were investigated. The percentages of total and active T cells in the peripheral blood and lymph nodes were within normal range. Most of the lymphocytes infiltrating in the cancerous tissues are T cells. It suggested that cellular immunity be developed in the cancerous tissues. The percentage of T mu in the patient's blood was lower than that of the normal person but the T gamma was higher. Proportions of T mu and T gamma in cancerous tissues were paralleled with those in blood, i.e. T gamma is higher than T mu. The mean percentage of T mu in lymph nodes was 25.52 +/- 14.06% and T gamma was 3.28 +/- 2.33%. It seems likely that the former is lower than normal and the latter is elevated.