Immunologic Status in Lung Cancer

¹ Department of Thoracic Surgery, Roswell Park Memorial Institute, Buffalo, N.Y.

Delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity was studied in 219 patients with carcinoma of the lung to observe if there was a correlation between the immunologic status of the patients and the major clinical features of the disease. Delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity correlated with the cell type differentiation of the tumor, the stage of the disease, the response to chemotherapy, the prognosis and the survival. Patients with anergia often had undifferentiated cell tumors, failed to respond to therapy, had advanced disease and died in a short time. Patients with a good skin test reaction often had limited disease, responded more frequently to therapy and survived for longer periods. Data obtained suggest that immunologic deficits associated with lung cancer could indicate late disease and may be useful in the clinical management of patients with bronchogenic carcinoma.