Juxtanuclear lymphocytes in histocultures of mammary cancer

Juxtanuclear lymphocytes in histocultures of mammary cancer. Am J Clin Pathol 71: 64-71, 1979. This is the first report of a special orientation of autochthonous lymphocytes at a juxtanuclear zone of human mammary cancer cells in primary histocultures. The phenomenon, juxtanuclear orientation of lymphocytes, was observed in 99 histocultures from 16 of 45 (35%) successfully explanted cancers. A total of 686 instances of juxtanuclear orientation of lymphocytes was counted, versus 354 instances of random lymphocytic activities; juxtanuclear/random ratios ranged from 0.2 to 5.2. Ratio determinations may be potentially useful for assistance in evaluating prognosis; the preliminary findings are inconclusive but suggest that a ratio of one or more may indicate a more favorable clinical course. The immediate importance of juxtanuclear orientation of lymphocytes is that it offers a new measurement of pathologic lymphocytic activity that should have applications in basic and clinical studies of host responses in general.