T and B lymphocyte counts and blast transformation in patients with Stage I cervical cancer

In 57 patients with Stage I cervical cancer and in 25 healthy women, a determination was made of leukocytosis, counts of lymphocytes and monocytes per 1 mm3 of blood, counts of T and B lymphocytes, and PHA-induced lymphocyte ability of in vitro blast transformation. Patients with cervical cancer, as compared with controls, exhibited a decrease in lymphocytosis and in the counts and percentages of T and B lymphocytes, as well as an increase of lymphocyte reactivity to PHA. An increase in the PHA-induced lymphocyte ability of in vitro blast transformation occurred in patients with a clinical picture characterized by the presence of a large tumor of the cervix or of metastases to the lymph nodes of the pelvis. In the group of patients in Stage I with a small cervix the mean indices of blast transformation did not differ from those observed for the healthy control group; on the other hand, in the group of patients with a large cervix and metastases to the lymph nodes of the pelvis, these indices exceeded on the average by about 88% those in the control group.