Macrophage electrophoretic mobility (MEM) test in malignant gynaecological diseases

All patients examined [52] with malignant disease of the female genital tract showed lymphocyte reactions to encephalitogenic factor (EF) of more than 10% as measured by the macrophage electrophoretic mobility (MEM) test and its modification (MOD-MEM). Whilst 13 patients with non-malignant disease of the genital tract and 30 normals showed lymphocyte reaction to EF of less than 6%, 4 patients with nonmalignant gynaecological disease gave values above the 10% limit. The lymphocyte reactions of this latter group of patients were discussed with respect to their previous clinical histories. Some of the malignant cases were carcinoma of the cervix in situ so that the MEM test would appear to be of value in the early diagnosis of cancer. The need for caution in the interpretation of results is discussed as well as further possible applications of the technique.