Leukocyte migration enhancement as an indicator of immunologic enhancement. II. Malignancy.

Leukocyte migration studies were performed on 19 cancer patients and 24 control subjects. Amniotic fluid (AF) as well as autologous plasma (PL) were investigated. No difference in the migration pattern between patients and control subjects was observed with AF, but cancer patients showed significant leukocyte migration enhancement (LME) with PL when compared to control subjects (p less than 0.04). Among 18 cancer patients with persistent disease only three did not show significant LME. All three represented specifically immunodepressed states. None of the untreated group of cancer patients failed to show LME with autologous PL. It is concluded that, as in pregnancy, an immunologic active factor is present in PL of cancer patients which induces a specific subpopulation of leukocytes and thereby LME. The possible mechanism of activation is briefly discussed. Through the detection of LME leukocyte migration may become of importance for the early detection of malignancy and monitoring of treatment success.