[Immunological data furnished by alveolar lavage in bronchopulmonary tumor pathology]

Alveolar lavage is a simple technique giving access to the inner lung. The object of this study is to assess the place of alveolar lavage in pulmonary tumours in man. The systemic changes in the immune system are not touched upon, nor the search for tumour cells. The supernatant has revealed greater than normal levels of carcino-embryonic antigen in primary tumours and metastases. The immunoglobulins (IgE, IgA) are increased also. The ready collection of the alveolar macrophages (MA) around the tumour permits a study of their functional capacity: chemotaxis, phagocytosis, cytotoxicity. The chemotaxis of MA breaks down around a primary cancer even though it is not changed in pulmonary metastases. The data in the literature concerning the capacity for phagocytosis and of anti-tumour cytotoxicity are still fragmentary. Increasing the tumoricidal properties of MA is a prospect for future. Alveolar lavage is an additional diagnostic method. It allows for a progressive scrutiny of the local immunological response in broncho-pulmonary tumours.