Immunosuppressive substance in the sera of head and neck cancer patients

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Abstract
Serum levels of immunosuppressive substance (IS) and immunosuppressive acidic protein (IAP) were studied by single radial immunodiffusion in 108 patients with head and neck cancer. Mean values of serum IS and IAP in patients with head and neck cancers were as follows: laryngeal carcinoma, 955 ± 447 μg/ml (IS), 604 ± 324 μg/ml (IAP); maxillary carcinoma, 896 ± 384 μg/ml (IS), 568 ± 246 μg/ml (IAP); nasopharyngeal carcinoma, 871 ± 313 μg/ml (IS), 673 ± 395 μg/ml (IAP); hypopharyngeal carcinoma, 1034 ± 495 μg/ml (IS), 669 ± 335 μg/ml (IAP). Except for IAP in hypopharyngeal carcinoma, these values were significantly higher than those of controls (IS, P < 0.01; IAP, P < 0.05). The overall positive rates of IS and IAP in the patient group were 46% and 37%, respectively. In patients with laryngeal carcinoma the positive rates of serum IS and IAP were found to be elevated as the disease stage advanced. The IS showed a higher positive rate than IAP in the advanced disease stage. Serial studies revealed that all patients who had recurrent disease after the treatment exhibited marked elevation of serum IS levels; in addition, patients with recurrent cancer showed significantly higher IS levels (1507 ± 464 μg/ml) compared to patients who had remained free of disease in the follow‐up period (640 ± 143 μg/ml) (P < 0.001). These data strongly suggests that serum IS and IAP levels are useful parameters for monitoring the disease stage of head and neck cancer patients.