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Vol.38 No.4 contents | Japanese/English |
- Original Article -
The Production of Interleukin 12 by Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients
Takashi NiimiSecond Department of Internal Medicine, Nagoya City University Medical School
Interleukin 12 (IL-12) Plays a critical role in the promotion of T helper 1 phenotype lymphocytes. It has also been considered to be important for development of the anti-tumor immune response. I therefore investigated the production of IL-12 by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) on stimulus with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) or phytohemagglutinin (PHA). Levels of IL-12 were determined by an enzyme-linked assay method in 11 patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer and 11 healthy controls. There were no significant differences in IL-12 production stimulated by LPS+IFN-γ in lung cancer patients and healthy controls. However, the production of IL-12 stimulated with PHA in the lung cancer cases was significantly lower than that in healthy controls (P<0.05). IL-12 production was not dependent on tumor histological type, clinical stage or performance status. The results obtained in this study suggest a decrease in IL-12 production in lung cancer patients associated with lymphocyte dysfunction.
key words: Non-small cell lung cancer, Interleukin 12, Cytokines, Antitumor-immune response, Peripheral blood mononuclear cell
Received: December 26, 1997
Accepted: June 11, 1998
JJLC 38 (4): 301-307, 1998
