Serum lymphocyte adherence inhibition test in bladder cancer patients

In 29 patients with a history of bladder cancer cystoscopic determination of tumor status was correlated with the results of a serum modified capillary tube lymphocyte adherence inhibition test. With donor lymphocytes from 3 healthy volunteers as indicator cells, patient sera were added to a butanol extract of the T-24 tissue-cultured bladder carcinoma cell line. Lymphocyte adherence inhibition of more than 15 per cent was selected as positive. Mean values for 17 cases positive for tumor were 26.6 +/- 14.1 per cent compared to 10.0 +/- 6.8 per cent for 18 cases negative for tumor. False positive and false negative values at this cutoff averaged 19 and 14 per cent, respectively, and there was no significant difference in the individual results of the 3 donor leukocytes. Serial examinations of 6 patients had lymphocyte adherence inhibition values consistent with the changes in tumor status. These results suggest that the serum lymphocyte adherence inhibition test correlates well with clinical tumor status and, therefore, may serve as a useful tumor marker in patients with bladder cancer.