Superoxide anion generation by polymorphonuclear leukocytes enhanced in a patient with colony-stimulating...

We examined superoxide (O-2)-generating activity of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) from a patient with lung cancer in whom there was a marked granulocytosis. There was a high level of colony-stimulating activity (CSA) in both the serum and the supernatant of the culture of the primary tumor. The PMN from the patient produced almost three times more O-2 than did the PMN from healthy donors and other patients with lung cancers but with no granulocytosis. The binding of wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), used as a stimulus for O-2 generation, to the surface membrane of cells and the protein content in the cells were about double that noted in the case of healthy donors. Following total extirpation of the tumor, the level of CSA in the serum decreased, as did activity of PMN for O-2 generation, and the binding of WGA to the cells reverted to normal levels.