Figure 4.

(Chemo)radiotherapy impairs the ability of antigen presenting cells to stimulate allogeneic T cells. Antigen presenting capacity of PBMCs as determined in a mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) in the blood samples from 10 patients are plotted over time. Treatment-induced changes in lymphocyte reactions as observed in the MLR based on (A) stimulation index (S.I.), expressed as mean ± SEM and (B) expressed as the fold changes (mean + SEM) of these S.I. over baseline. Time point include baseline, after 15 fractions of EBRT and at 3, 6 and 9 weeks after completion of EBRT. *p <0.05 with respect to baseline. Abbreviations: wks = weeks; fract = fractions.