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Effects of intermittent 5-fluorouracil and adriamycin on various immune parameters in carcinoma patients with reference to the tumour load

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Summary

Adriamycin and 5-fluorouracil were used to treat nineteen patients with metastatic carcinoma. There were different effects upon in vitro immune reactivity in those patients who responded, as compared to those who did not respond to this chemotherapy. Assays used to measure immune reactivity included total lymphocyte count, E and EAC rosettes, direct cellular cytotoxicity, antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity and PHA induced cytotoxicity against a Change cell target system. Both patient groups were immuno-depressed prior to treatment. Successful therapy reduced this depression in “non-T” cell cytotoxicity and in E rosette number. In contrast, the non-responding patients exhibited further depression of “non-T” function as measured by direct cellular cytotoxicity and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity.

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Thatcher, N., Gasiunas, N., Potter, M.R. et al. Effects of intermittent 5-fluorouracil and adriamycin on various immune parameters in carcinoma patients with reference to the tumour load. Cancer Immunol Immunother 3, 107–113 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00200067

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00200067

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