Suppressor leukocytes in anergic patients with solid tumors.

Anergic patients with solid tumors were studied for the presence of suppressor cells which could be responsible for their significantly impaired phytohemagglutinin induced lymphocyte proliferation. Three types of suppressor cell assays were measured. First, no increased activity of prostaglandin producing suppressor cells was found in 10 cancer patients. Second, 5 cancer patients did not have significantly increased activity of short-lived suppressor cells in comparison with normal subjects. Third, no enhanced activity of concanavalin A induced suppressor cells was seen in 6 patients. This study emphasizes that the in vitro T cell immunodeficiency in this group of cancer patients was not due to suppressor cells as measured by conventional in vitro assays and emphasizes the potential importance of a loss of responder cells or other suppressor mechanisms in immune deficient patients with solid tumors.