Clinical Studies of Lymphoid Cell Lymphokines in 102 Patients with Malignant Solid Tumors

Immune responses, whether humoral or cellular, are subtly regulated and balanced by various subsets of lymphocytes. The latter, when stimulated, elaborate and release a variety of nonantibody molecules, named lymphokines (LK) by Dumonde, which act as mediators and regulators of various immune reactions. LK are especially important in so -called cell-mediated immunity, which is responsible for the rejection and destruction of foreign tissue. Malignant tumor cells are sensed by lymphocytes as “nonself” and should therefore be subject to immune attack. For poorly understood reasons this immune response to cancer cells is insufficient in most cases to either prevent the growth of the tumor or to help destroy it when already established. The possibility that the reinforcement of some aspects of the immune response by the administration of exogenously produced LK may help destroy in vivo tumor tissue has been considered by many.