Survival and the immune response in patients with carcinoma of the colorectum

Abstract

One hundred and seven patients with colorectal carcinoma were examined for their immune response to autologous tumour. Patient leucocyte migration inhibition by tumour antigen, migration inhibition of normal subject's leucocytes by patient's serum, and the assessment of lymphocyte invasion of the tumour specimen were used to measure the immune response. Forty-one and 51% of patients were immune by leucocyte migration inhibition and tumour invasion by lymphocytes respectively. The immune patients had a survival advantage at three years on Chi-squared analysis. Patients whose serum contained a factor that inhibited the migration of leucocytes obtained from normal individuals had a diminished survival prognosis. The donors of these sera had a 50% chance of dying or of developing recurrent disease. These same individuals represented 30% of all those tested by this method. The immune patients included the sera donors as a subgroup who, if excluded from the life table analysis, left a group of immune subjects who had very superior survival features.