Flow cytometric analysis of changes of OKT9+-lymphocytes in the blood of cancer patients during radiation therapy

In this study, we report a clinical application of a rapid flow-cytometric immunofluorescence method for studying OKT9+-lymphocytes in whole blood by using monoclonal antibody OKT9. Changes in the relative percentages and absolute counts of OKT9+-lymphocytes during radiotherapy of cancer patients were evaluated by this method. In a study of 151 samples from 57 cases, the elevation of OKT9+-lymphocyte level (>3%) was observed in 17 samples from 12 patients. 12 of 17 samples were from patients during radiotherapy or after radiotherapy, so the elevation of OKT9+-lymphocyte level was seemed to be brought by radiotherapy. But, it was irrelevant to clinical response to radiotherapy. (author)