A Comparative Study of the Incidence of Anergy in Patients with Carcinoma, Leukemia, Hodgkin's Disease and Other Lymphomas

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Abstract
Summary: Delayed hypersensitivity to a battery of six microbial antigens and one control solution was tested in 400 patients, including 208 controls and 192 with Hodgkin's disease, carcinoma, leukemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Fifty-three per cent of the Hodgkin's disease group were anergic early in the course of the disease, in contrast to the low incidence among the other patient groups judged to be in good condition on clinical grounds. Anergy was more frequent in all groups when the disease was advanced and the general physical condition of the patients was regarded as poor. Possible mechanisms and significance of this anergy are discussed.