FLOW CYTOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF T8 LYMPHOCYTES IN PATIENTS WITH OVARIAN-CARCINOMA IN RELATION TO CLINICAL-RESPONSE

The objective of this study was to examine variations of T8 lymphocyte s in the peripheral blood of patients with ovarian carcinoma after sur gical treatment and chemotherapy in relation to clinical response. In a prospective randomized study 30 women with ovarian carcinoma were st udied. In the control group 30 patients had benign tumors of ovary. We examined the distribution of T8 lymphocytes in the peripheral blood o f women with ovarian carcinoma preoperatively, during chemotherapy and 1 and 3 months postoperatively as well as in the control group. Quant ification of suppressor/cytotoxic lymphocytes in peripheral blood was performed using specific monoclonal antibody (anti-T8) and flow cytome try. Values of T8 lymphocytes in the group of patients with complete r esponse, 1 month after operation, were higher (0.67+/-0.3) compared to the control group (0.53+/-0.24), but lower in patients with partial r esponse (0.45+/-0.20) and no effect (0.36+/-0.1). Three months after t he operation, we recorded a decreased number of peripheral T8 lymphocy tes in all patients of the examined group, compared to the values afte r 1 month.