EVALUATION OF LYMPHOCYTE SUBPOPULATIONS IN PATIENTS WITH BLADDER CANCER: A STUDY WITH MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES

Peripheral blood lymphocyte subpopulations of 47 patients with bladder cancer were analyzed using monoclonal antibodies (OKT3, OKT4, OKT8 and OKIa7). Thirty five patients were untreated, and 12 were treated, disease-free patients. In untreated patients, the number of total lymphocytes and the percentage of OKT3+ cells decreased. Among the OKT3+ T cell population, the percentage of OKT4+ cells tended to decrease:- significantly, whereas the percentage of OKT8+ cells rather increased, resulting in the decrease of the OKT4+jOKT8+ ratio. These tendencies became more evident as the stage advanced. In treated, disease-free patients, no such characteristic changes were observed and the lymphocyte subpopulation apparently fell into the normal range. Furthermore, the retrospective study clearly indicated that the patients with a lower OKT4+jOKT8+ ratio showed a higher recurrence rate within a year. Analysis of peripheral blood lymphocyte subpopulations thus appears to be useful in the follow-up of bladder cancer patients, especially those with superficial tumors. Key words: Lymphocyte subpopulations, Bladder cancer patient