Suppression of B-lymphocyte function by T-lymphocytes in patients with advanced lung cancer

The ability of B-lymphocytes to produce immunoglobulins in response to pokeweek mitogen stimulation was studied in 21 untreated stage III lung cancer patients by culture of their mononuclear cells in vitro. The number of immunoglobulin-producing cells was significantly lower in 20 of the 21 patients when compared to responses shown by normal control subjects. In contrast, the proliferative responses of many of the patients were within the normal range. When the T-lymphocytes of these patients were irradiated with 1,250 rad to eliminate the suppressor T-cell activity and then cultured with autologous B-cells, the number of immunoglobulin-producing cells was enhanced to the normal range in 7 of the 18 patients. These results indicate that B-cell function is impaired in most patients with advanced lung cancer. They also suggest that, in addition to suppression by radiosensitive suppressor T-cells, other mechanisms are involved in the observed B-cell functional abnormality.