Quantitation of lymphocytes and T-cell subsets in patients with disseminated cancer

Human peripheral blood T-cells were divided into subsets on the basis of their ability to bind to the Fc receptor portion of IgG (TG cells) or IgM (TM cells). These subsets were studied in 25 patients with newly diagnosed disseminated malignant solid tumors. When compared to a group of healthy, age-matched controls, cancer patients as a group exhibited signifcantly increased percentages of TG cells and significantly decreased percentages and numbers of TM cells. Comparison of the values determined for individual patients to those determined for groups of 10 healthy individuals in the same decade of life revealed that most cancer patients had normal levels of lymphocytes and T-cells, but many had aberrant values for T-cell subsets.