NON‐SPECIFIC IMMUNOLOGICAL FUNCTION IN ACUTE MYELOBLASTIC LEUKAEMIA

Summary Immunological function was investigated in patients with acute myeloblastic leukaemia, both in the untreated stage of the disease and in remission. IgM concentrations were found to be raised in 7 out of 29 patients during the untreated stage. There were only minimal changes in 1gG, 1gA and C concentrations, and in the incidence of auto‐antibodies to normal tissue components. Reactions to standard skin tests were considerably impaired—only 2 out of 10 leukaemic patients in remission responded to 2 or more of these tests. Furthermore the response in leukaemic patients was much weaker than in the corresponding controls. PHA stimulation of lymphocytes from patients in remission showed considerable variation from near normal to gross impairment but a response below 40% of normal was associated with a short remission period, suggesting that PHA stimulation may be a useful indication of the likelihood of relapse.

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