Decreased T-lymphocytes in patients with mammary cancer.

The levels of thymus-derived lymphocytes (T-cells) in samples of peripheral blood from 47 patients with carcinoma of the breast, 36 patients with benign mammary lesions, and 33 matched normal controls were determined. Results were analyzed with three statistical tests. It was found that the mean percentages of T-lymphocytes differed significantly among the three groups of patients (p less than 0.001). The mean percentages of rosette-forming lymphocytes were 72.8 for the normal group, 60.6 for patients with benign mammary lesions, and 45.1 for the patients with carcinoma. The finding of lower levels of T-lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of individuals with mammary cancer is of particular significance since all the patients in this study were otherwise in apparently good general health and undergoing no treatment.