Cellular immune reactions in human acute leukemia.

Cellular immune reactions are generally thought to play a major role in host resistance against tumor growth. Human acute leukemia cells have been found to contain tumor associated antigens, and it is possible to measure the cell-mediated immune response to these antigens. In addition to specific reactivity, it is quite important to evaluate the functional integrity of the cellular immune system in leukemia patients. The disease process itself or the chemotherapeutic agents could cause general depression in reactivity. The techniques currently being used for such studies are summarized in Table 1. In this Paper, we will review the information available from each of these approaches, and discuss their possible relevance to the clinical state.