Pharyngeal carcinoma and natural killer cell activity. Am J Surg 1986 Oct;152(4):467-74
Date
10/01/1986Pubmed ID
3766883DOI
10.1016/0002-9610(86)90326-0Scopus ID
2-s2.0-0022490933 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 36 CitationsAbstract
An evaluation of natural killer cell activity was performed in 42 patients with pharyngeal carcinoma. Compared with age- and sex-matched control subjects, the cancer patients expressed significantly lower cytotoxicity against K562 target cells (68 +/- 8 lytic units versus 99 +/- 8 lytic units, p less than 0.01), with 52 percent of the patients expressing deficient activity (below 1 standard deviation of the mean activity of the control population). The probability of deficient activity was greater in these patients than observed in patients with cancer of other head and neck sites. Although natural killer cell activity was lower in patients who drank alcohol or had nodal metastases, no single clinical factor was predictive of deficient cytotoxic response. Prospective longitudinal evaluation (mean = 12 months) of these pharyngeal cancer patients demonstrated that deficient natural killer cell activity measured before treatment identified a population with a significantly increased risk for the development of distant metastases. Distant metastases developed in 7 of 18 patients (39 percent) with deficient natural killer cell activity. In contrast, none of the 16 patients with normal natural killer cell function had evidence of distant disease at last follow-up (p less than 0.01). Deficient natural killer cell activity exists in patients with pharyngeal cancer and is an independent marker for the subsequent development of distant metastases.
Author List
Schantz SP, Campbell BH, Guillamondegui OMAuthor
Bruce H. Campbell MD Emeritus Professor in the Otolaryngology department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdultAge Factors
Aged
Alcohol Drinking
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell
Female
Humans
Killer Cells, Natural
Laryngeal Neoplasms
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Middle Aged
Mouth Neoplasms
Neoplasm Metastasis
Neoplasm Recurrence, Local
Pharyngeal Neoplasms
