Neck node immunoreactivity in head and neck carcinoma

T-lymphocyte subpopulations were quantitated in lymph nodes that contained metastatic tumor--or no metastasis--from patients who had squamous cell carcinoma of the upper aerodigestive tract. In addition, the lymphocyte subpopulations in peripheral blood were quantitated. The content of prostaglandin E2 within each node that was evaluated was also determined. Lymph nodes containing metastatic tumor had significantly higher helper/suppressor ratio than lymph nodes that were not involved. Quantification of the T-lymphocyte subpopulations in peripheral blood did not indicate the presence of metastatic disease. Significantly more prostaglandin E2 was present in lymph nodes containing metastatic disease, in comparison to lymph nodes without metastatic disease. Thus, both the lymphocyte subpopulations and prostaglandin levels were found to differentiate lymph nodes with metastasis from those without.