Abstract

The cellular immune mechanisms of patients with adenocarcinoma of colon or rectum were evaluated by studying the lymphocyte response to PHA stimulation. Our results indicate that the serum of cancer patients causes a decreased blastic transformation and H³ thymidine uptake of the lymphocytes of patients as well as of normal controls. A defect of the lymphocytes unrelated to serum factors was also present in some cancer patients. However, no relationship was found between the degree of transformation and the presence of metastases in the lymph nodes.