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Natural Cytotoxicity and Serum Blocking in Malignant Cervical Neoplasia
Author(s) -
PILLAI M. RADHAKRISHNA,
BALARAM PRABHA,
ABRAHAM THOMAS,
PADMANABHAN T.K.,
NAIR M. KRISHNAN
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
american journal of reproductive immunology and microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1600-0897
pISSN - 8755-8920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0897.1988.tb00188.x
Subject(s) - k562 cells , immune system , cytotoxicity , cell , immunology , natural killer cell , antibody , cervical cancer , cancer , medicine , biology , cancer research , in vitro , leukemia , biochemistry , genetics
Peripheral blood lymphocytes from 100 patients with various stages and histological types of squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix were assayed for natural killer (NK) cell activity against K562 cells using the single cell cytotoxicity assay in agarose. The effect of autologous serum on NK cell activity and a quantitation of soluble antigen‐antibody complexes was also carried out. The cancer patients showed reduced NK activity compared with normal controls, the reduction increasing with tumor load. Another observation was that patients with poorly differentiated tumours showed lower levels of NK activity. Addition of autologous serum resulted in further depression of NK activity in all groups of patients. An increase in circulating immune complexes was also evident in all groups of patients. Here again increase in tumor load and poorly differentiated tumors showed the highest levels. The results point toward a possible disturbance in NK cell activity that could be further depressed by autologous serum factors.