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Natural killer activity of peripheral blood lymphocytes and its relation to histopathological factors of lung cancer

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Abstract

This investigation was intended to determine whether the natural killer (NK) activity of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) correlated with the histopathological factor, which is thought to be a result of a balance between tumor aggression and host resistance. The NK activity of PBL from 60 patients with lung cancer was measured by the lysis of51Cr-labelled K562 target cells. The activity was significantly decreased with advancing stages of the disease, and inversely correlated with increased immunosuppressive substance levels of the serum. Histopathological factors, such as low grade pleural invasion of the tumor and abundant lymphoid cell infiltration around the tumor, were significantly associated with the high NK activity of PBL. These results show that a decrease in NK activity may play a role in identifying those individuals with a greater risk of cancer development.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. First Department of Surgery, Okayama University, 2-5-1 Shikatacho, 700, Okayama, Japan

    Akio Terazawa, Noriaki Tanaka MD, Fumiyuki Inoue, Akira Gouchi, Sadayoshi Fuchimoto, Hisashi Mimura & Kunzo Orita

  2. Department of Surgery, Hiroshima Municipal Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan

    Noritomo Senou

  3. Department of Pathology, Hiroshima Municipal Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan

    Hiroo Matsuura

Authors
  1. Akio Terazawa
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  2. Noriaki Tanaka MD
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  3. Noritomo Senou
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  4. Fumiyuki Inoue
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  5. Hiroo Matsuura
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  6. Akira Gouchi
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  7. Sadayoshi Fuchimoto
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  8. Hisashi Mimura
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  9. Kunzo Orita
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Terazawa, A., Tanaka, N., Senou, N. et al. Natural killer activity of peripheral blood lymphocytes and its relation to histopathological factors of lung cancer. The Japanese Journal of Surgery 17, 236–242 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02470694

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02470694

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