The effects of radiotherapy on immunity in patients with cured localized carcinoma of the cervix uteri

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Abstract
The effects of radiotherapy on immune status in patients with localized carcinoma of the cervix have been assessed serially up to 5 years remission by a wide range of methods. Neutrophil function and serum immunoglobulins were essentially normal throughout. Peripheral blood neutrophil and lymphocyte counts and the proportions of T and B-cells fell with treatment but were all normal at 5 years, with the exception of B-cell proportions which remained significantly low. Marked deterioration was seen in in vivo cellular immune responses and this persisted even at 5 years remission. Reduced in vitro immu-noreactivity is not therefore a reliable marker of disease recurrence and persisting defects in cellular immunity after radiotherapy do not seem to adversely affect the host tumor response. However, in three of the six patients who subsequently relapsed after therapy, subnormal PHA lymphocyte transformation responses were observed at presentation; all patients achieving sustained remission had normal pretreatment responses.