Cytotoxicity of cancer patient's macrophages for tumor cells

Monocyte derived macrophages were isolated from the peripheral blood of 66 patients with either breast, colon, gynecological or hematological cancers. The macrophages from the breast and gynecologic cancer patients generally did not acquire enhanced cytotoxicity for human tumor cells after incubation with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). However, when the macrophages isolated from colon and hematologic cancer patients were studied, more than 50% of these patients possessed cytotoxic macrophages. LPS induced macrophage mediated cytotoxicity was also found to be inhibited by factors present in many cancer patient's plasma. Twenty-three of the 50 cancer patients studied possessed a plasma inhibitor capable of suppressing macrophage mediated cytotoxicity by more than 50%. Furthermore, of these 50 patients, 47 were incapable of killing the tumor cells in vitro either because they possessed nonresponsive macrophages and/or they possessed a plasma inhibitory factor. Thus, although macrophage cytotoxic function may be normal in some patients with cancer, cytotoxicity may be inhibited in some patients by factors in autologous plasma thereby rendering the macrophages ineffective in vivo.