Lymphokine production and lymphocyte subpopulations in patients with head and neck squamous carcinoma

Prior studies of impaired cellular immune reactivity in patients with head and neck squamous carcinoma (HNSC) suggest that immune deficiency associated with tumor growth may be related, in part, to alterations in immunoregulatory functions. To determine if production of soluble mediators of the immune response (lymphokines) is impaired in patients with HNSC, leukocyte migration inhibition in response to phytohemagglutinin was assessed in 32 patients with HNSC and 29 normal subjects and was correlated with levels of specific peripheral blood lymphocyte subpopulations to determine if quantitative levels of immunoregulatory lymphocyte subpopulations were related to in vitro lymphokine production. In the patients with cancer, leukocyte inhibitory factor production was consistently and significantly impaired and was directly related to levels of T4-positive (helper/inducer) lymphocytes. Substantial differences in levels of individual subpopulations were not detected among normal subjects and patients with cancer; however, the mean T4/T8 ratio was substantially increased in the patients with cancer. The findings confirm and extend prior observations of impaired cellular immune mechanisms in patients with HNSC and suggest that impaired lymphokine production may be related to quantitative and qualitative alterations in lymphocyte subpopulations.