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Impaired immunologic reactivity and recurrence following cancer surgery
Author(s) -
Eilber Frederick R.,
Morton Donald L.
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(197002)25:2<362::aid-cncr2820250213>3.0.co;2-v
Subject(s) - medicine , delayed hypersensitivity , sensitization , incidence (geometry) , disease , antigen , cancer , surgery , dermatology , immunology , physics , optics
One hundred patients were tested for their ability to react to 7 commonly encountered skin test antigens and to develop delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity to 2, 4‐dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB). Following sensitization, more than 95% of normal patients, but only 60% of patients with potentially resectable neoplasms, exhibited delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity to DNCB. A correlation is suggested between the inability to react to DNCB and the incidence of either inoperability, local recurrence, or distant metastases within 6 months post‐operatively. Ninety‐three percent (27/29) of patients who failed to react to DNCB were inoperable or developed early recurrence, whereas 92% (50/54) of patients who reacted to DNCB were free of disease for 6 months; but many of these patients were nonreactive to all of the common skin test antigens. These studies suggest that there is a significant correlation between cell mediated immunologic reactivity as measured by delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity to DNCB and the course of malignant disease following definitive cancer surgery.