Cellular antitumor immune response in women with risk factors for breast cancer.

The leukocyte adherence inhibition technique was used to study cell-mediated immunoactivity to breast adenocarcinoma. In a group of 74 patients with untreated breast cancer in Stages I and II, 69% showed a positive response, while 48% of the 25 patients in Stages III and IV had reactive leukocytes. Among 43 control persons, only 2 women showed positive responses. In a group of 161 women with benign breast diseases, 24% showed a positive reaction against breast carcinoma extract. The percentage of positive responses was higher than the average of women with benign disease among those who had a mother or a sister with breast cancer, who had previously had benign breast lumps removed, who had microcalcifications in their breasts, or for whom an increased intraductal epithelial proliferation was found in their biopsies. Twenty-eight women with benign breast diseases and two or more of the above factors were assigned to the high-risk group, in which 43% had reactive leukocytes. Of the 50 women with one risk factor, 34% showed a positive response, while of the 83 women in the low-risk group, with none of the above factors, only 11% had a positive reaction. The results suggest that the leukocyte adherence inhibition test may be used to identify groups of women who have a high risk for breast cancer.