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The Impact of Natural Killer Cell Activity

Stimson P. Schantz, MD; Helmuth Goepfert, MD

Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 1987;113(11):1207-1213.

Abstract
• One hundred eighty-two previously untreated head and neck cancer patients were stratified by pretreatment-quantitated natural killer (NK) cell activity (<60 lytic units [LU] vs 60 LU) and followed up longitudinally for the development of distant metastases (DMs). Patients with NK activity of less than 60 LU (n = 99) developed DMs at a higher rate than the remaining group. Further stratification of patients on the bases of both regional nodal disease and treatment demonstrated that the risk of DMs predominantly involved one group, ie, patients with histopathologically documented nodal metastases, NK activity of less than 60 LU, and prior treatment with combined surgery and radiation therapy (12 [46%] of 26 patients). If one of these three factors was absent, the risk of DMs was not greater than 12%, regardless of the factor. Head and neck cancer patients should be stratified by pretreatment natural immune status to determine the impact of therapy on disease progression.

(Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 1987;113:1207-1213)

Author Affiliations
From the Department of Head and Neck Surgery, M. D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute, Houston.

Footnotes
Accepted for publication June 11, 1987.

Read before the American Society for Head and Neck Surgery, Denver, April 28, 1987.

Reprint requests to the Department of Head and Neck Surgery, M. D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute, 1515 Holcombe, Houston, TX 77030 (Dr Schantz).

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