Effect of chemotherapy on NK function in the peripheral blood of cancer patients

The effects of cytotoxic chemotherapy on NK cell function and on glass adherent cell regulation of NK cell function was evaluated in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 20 previously untreated solid tumor patients. Most of the patients studied had lung cancer and received one of four combination chemotherapy treatment regimens. In addition, one patient with colon carcinoma and one patient with melanoma were studied, each of whom received treatment with a single agent. The results demonstrated that chemotherapy exerted a differential influence on NK activity which correlated with the pretreatment NK level of function in the individual patient. In patients with depressed NK levels prior to treatment, chemotherapy augmented NK function; in patients with normal levels prior to treatment, chemotherapy depressed NK function. The effects observed appeared to be associated with the capacity of chemotherapy to influence glass adherent cell regulation of NK activity. There was no apparent correlation between the effects of chemotherapy on numbers of NK effector cells, Leu11+ cells, or latex-ingesting cells. Also, there was no correlation between the effects seen and the type of drug treatment that was administered; rather, this was dependent on the pretreatment NK level of function which in turn was associated with glass adherent cell regulation of NK function.