Background: Assessment of immunocompetence in non-seminomatous testicular cancer (NSTC) patients.
Materials and methods: In the peripheral blood of 43 patients with NSTC, lymphocyte subsets, lymphocyte reactivity to mitogens, NK cell activity as well as neutrophil and monocyte phagocytic functions were studied.
Results: The proportion and number of T- and B- lymphocytes, lymphocyte reactivity to mitogens as well as neutrophil and monocyte phagocytic functions were equal in patients with localized disease and in those with metastatic disease and they not differ from those in controls. The NK cell number and NK cell activity, however, were significantly impaired in both patient groups. The patients with metastatic disease had a lower NK cell activity than those with localized disease. One year after the completion of anticancer treatment, the NK cell number and cytotoxic activity recovered in both groups of patients.
Conclusion: These results suggest that patients with NSTC are primarily deficient in NK cell number and their cytotoxic function influence the host's ability to control the proliferation and spread of tumor cells.