[T-cell classification of the peripheral venous blood of patients with breast cancer]

Using monoclonal antibodies the total number of T-lymphocytes, as well as of helper and suppressor T-cells, was measured in peripheral venous blood of 78 women with carcinoma of the breast and 68 women without malignant disease (control group). There was no significant difference between the two groups as regards pre-operative values. The same was true with regard to different carcinoma stages. Serial tests on 15 patients who had received adjuvant chemotherapy revealed a reduction in the absolute number of all lymphoid cells except monocytes. Helper T-cells were more strongly affected than suppressor T-cells. By determining lymphocyte subpopulations in women with leukopenia caused by cytostatics one will probably be able to identify those patients particularly susceptible to infection. Determining T-cells may also make it possible to deduce a special recurrence risk.