Lymphocyte response to plant mitogens

Cell-mediated immune response was measured by the uptake of tritiated thymidine by lymphocytes cultured in serum-free medium in the presence and absence of different doses of phytohemagglutinin-M (PHA). Four groups were studied: (i) healthy women (controls); (ii) pregnant women; (iii) patients with carcinoma of the cervix; (iv) patients with ovarian carcinoma. The cancer patients were studied before and after treatment which consisted of radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy. No significant difference in response was found in the controls in terms of the response to the different doses of PHA or between the controls and pregnant women. When the pregnant women were grouped according to trimester dates, variability in response was observed which was dependent on the dose of PHA used. However, there was a decreased response in the second trimester relative to the first and third trimester at different doses of PHA. The lymphocyte response of the cancer patients was depressed only at 5 μg/ml of PHA. The response before treatment was decreased relative to the response after treatment. After treatment the response of the patients with ovarian carcinoma was similar to the control value.