IMMUNOMODULATION IN-VITRO - THE PREDICTIVE VALUE OF IN-VITRO TESTING OF LUNG-CANCER PATIENTS LYMPHOCYTE RESPONSIVENESS TO STIMULATION BY THYMEX-L - A PRELIMINARY-REPORT

Eleven lung cancer patients were selected for combined radio and immun otherapy with a thymic agent-Thymex L. The selection criteria included the pre-therapy testing of patients' immunocompetence and the respons iveness of their lymphocytes to the in vitro addition of Thymex L: onl y patients with a significant degree of immunodepression, whose depres sed cellular immunity parameters (the number of total and active T cel ls and their mitogen-induced lymphoproliferative response) were signif icantly increased upon this agent's action in vitro, entered the study . The results of the pre-therapy in vitro simulation correlated with t hose obtained after completion of radioimmunotherapy: the administrati on of Thymex L along with radiotherapy seances prevented iatrogenic de terioration of initial depression of general immunocompetence nad enab led to overcome it to a certain degree. This indicated that pre-therap y in vitro testing has a true predictive value. However, the initial i mmune disturbances were not normalized by immunotherapy; the post-ther apy testing of the patients' lymphocytes to the addition of Thymex L i n vitro showed that these cells processed a residual potential to resp ond by a significant increase of the active T cell number and prolifer ative capacity, suggesting that immunotherapy could by prolonged in or der to potentiate cellular immunity in immunodepressed lung cancer pat ients.