Studies on lymphocyte sensitization to encephalitogenic protein in tumor patients

The specific lymphocyte sensitization of patients with malignant diseases against a basic protein, isolated from human brain, was studied by the lymphocyte migration inhibition technique. A sensitization of lymphocytes of cancer patients against this encephalitogenic factor (EF) was first reported by FIELD and CASPARY in 1970. Their test system was the Macrophage-Electrophoretic-Mobility-Test (MEMT). In 17 out of 18 patients with malignant disease we found a specific inhibition or enhancement of the migration area of lymphocytes more than 15%.