Lymphocytotoxic Antibodies In Prostatic Cancer

Abstract

To the Editor.— The possibility that immunologic factors may influence the growth and development of tumors was considered as early as 1900 by Ehrlich. Stimulated by recent reports suggesting the possible occurrence of immunologic factors in carcinoma of the prostate, we have examined the serum of patients with various stages of clinically and histologically confirmed diagnosed carcinoma of the prostate^1-3for the presence of cytotoxic antibodies (CA) to lymphyocytes from 50 unrelated randomly selected donors by the microcytotoxicity test.⁴ Initially, serum specimens from 22 patients with carcinoma of the prostate admitted for treatment of their malignancy were screened. Upon finding CA in two of these patients, 28 serum specimens from patients with a confirmed diagnosis of benign prostatic hypertrophy, and three patients with carcinoma of the bladder not involving the prostate were tested as controls in a similar manner for the presence of CA. Results of testing these