IMMUNOLOGICAL AND PLASMA-PROTEIN CHANGES IN CANCER-PATIENTS FOLLOWING A SINGLE PLASMAPHERESIS

  • 1 January 1978
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 28  (5) , 292-297
Abstract
Serial serum protein determinations and immunological monitoring were performed prior to and following a single 4-5 l plasma exchange in 10 patients with disseminated cancer. The most consistent changes were observed for 2 initially elevated .alpha. globulins, acid glycoprotein and haptoglobin, which declined rapidly in all patients 1 h after plasmapheresis and began to rise again as early as 24 h post-plasmapheresis to reach initial levels by 72 h. Among the immunological parameters T [thymus-derived] and B [bone marrow-derived] cell counts and phytohemaglutinin-induced lymphocyte transformation showed little change. In 4 of 10 patients, C3 [complement component 3] levels dropped at 1 h post-plasmapheresis and continued to decline to 24 h, suggesting that consumption of C3, possibly by macrophages may have occurred. In view of earlier reports that repeated plasmapheresis induced partial tumor regressions in patients with disseminated cancer and that these regressions may have been related to depletion of immunosuppressive serum proteins, it is suggested that to maintain levels of these rapidly renewed proteins at a minimum for as long as possible, it is best to perform plasmapheresis every 48 h rather than every 72 or 96 h, as was the case in the previous study.

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