Detection of cell-mediated immune reactivity of breast cancer patients by the leukocyte adherence inhibition response to MCF-7 extracts.

Abstract Breast cancer patients and healthy individuals were tested for their reactivity to 3 m KCl extracts of MCF-7 cells, normal breast tissue, and D-562 cells in a leukocyte adherence inhibition (LAI) microassay. Of 51 patients with breast carcinoma tested, 35 (69%) displayed a positive response to extracts of MCF-7 cells in the LAI assay. Only 1 of 13 (8%) healthy donors showed a response to MCF-7 extracts, and none demonstrated a response to D-562 extracts. One of 11 normal donors and 3 of 27 breast cancer patients displayed reactivity to extracts of normal breast tissue. Breast cancer patients also showed a LAI response to D-562, a cell line derived from a human throat adenocarcinoma, whereas normal individuals did not react to the D-562 extracts. These results indicate that responses in the LAI microassay to MCF-7 extracts can distinguish normal donors from breast cancer patients. The reactivity of breast cancer patients to both MCF-7 and D-562 may indicate the presence of a common tumor antigen. Comparison of the leukocyte migration inhibition responses and LAI responses to MCF-7 of individual breast cancer patients demonstrated that the two in vitro tests of cell-mediated immunity did not correlate. These results indicate that the LAI and leukocyte migration inhibition assays measure the production of distinct mediators or mediators from different cell populations.