Decreased monocyte function in patients with Hodgkin's disease

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Oncology

Background:

• Hodgkin's disease (HD) is a malignancy of the lymphatic system.
• Patients with HD exhibit increased susceptibility to infections.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate monocyte function in patients with Hodgkin's disease.
• To correlate monocyte function with disease stage and clinical parameters.

Main Methods:

• Studied monocyte chemotaxis and bactericidal activity in untreated and treated HD patients.
• Compared patient data with normal controls.
• Assessed correlation with disease stage and cutaneous anergy.

Main Results:

• Decreased monocyte chemotactic responses observed in 6/14 advanced-stage patients.
• No abnormalities found in Stage II disease patients.
• Reduced chemotaxis correlated with cutaneous anergy and diminished bactericidal activity.

Conclusions:

• Depressed monocyte function may increase infection susceptibility in HD patients.
• Impaired monocyte function might contribute to tumor dissemination in advanced HD.