Peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets in urinary bladder carcinoma patients.

The percentages of pan T (CD3+), T helper (CD4+), T cytotoxic/suppressor (CD8+), B (CD22+) and natural killer (CD57+) cells in peripheral blood lymphocytes of 15 urinary bladder carcinoma patients and in parallel, 10 healthy donors were estimated, using monoclonal antibodies in indirect membrane immunofluorescence. A significant decrease in the percentage of CD3+ lymphocytes and a highly significant decrease in the proportion of CD8+ cells was revealed in urinary bladder cancer patients. This change was accompanied by a significant increase in the CD4/CD8 ratio and in the frequency of CD57+ (HNK-1+) cells. Our data document, for the first time, the complete lymphocyte profile of patients with advanced (T3) urinary bladder carcinoma. The reason and significance of the decline in CD8+ lymphocyte percentage and the increase of CD57+ cells are discussed.