Lymphocyte response to mitogens in patients with malignant melanoma

Lymphocyte blast transformation of 23 melanoma patients was compared to that of 22 healthy persons after stimulation with the mitogens PHA, ConA, and PWM. Transformation rate of lymphocytes in microcultures was measured following 3H-Thymidin uptake in a Liquid-Scintillation-Counter. Calculations were based on analyses of variance. There was no significant difference in blastogenetic response between the 2 groups (patients and controls), but there were differences between the used mitogens.