[Influence of radiotherapy on lymphocyte stimulation]

More than 300 lymphocyte cultures of 12 patients with seminomas were examined during the prophylactic radiotherapy and, in several cases, during an extended period until 20.5 months after the end of the treatment. The object of this study was to find out by measuring the capacity of the lymphocytes to be stimulated in vitro wheather they could be damaged by the radiotherapy. Among other reasons, the above mentioned patients were chosen because they had been submitted to irradiations of vast volumes of lymphatic tissues at a uniform focal dose of 4000 rad. The different opinions expressed in the literature (stimulation decreassed resp. increased resp. unchanged) are reflected by our results in such a way that we did not find a qualitative loss of the capacity to be stimulated cultures. The problem of the different opinions about the capacity of lymphocytes to be stimulated after a radiotherapy appears; among other things, to be based on different examination methods. According to these methods- morphological determination of the relative number of lymphoblasts, synthesis of DNA by fluid scintillation counting, or determination of the number of surviving cells in vitro -different results are obtained. It seems not possible to use the lymphocyte stimulation in vitro as a method of testing clinical sideefects occuring during the characteristics of immunity and radiation biology are not differentiated in a more precise manner.