ANTIENDOTHELIAL ANTIBODIES IN THE SERA OF CANCER-PATIENTS - A POSSIBLE INDICATOR OF TREATMENT-INDUCED TISSUE-DAMAGE

Background - Radiation can cause severe injury to the vasculature in patients receiving radiotherapy. However, no assay is available which can either detect or predict such damage. In several diseases where damage to the vasculature occurs, the presence of antibodies to endothelial cells (AEA) has been noted. Methods - The incidence of AEA in the sera of normal individuals and cancer patients who have been treated by radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or radiotherapy and chemotherapy in combination, was investigated by an indirect immunofluorescence technique against human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Results - The incidence of AEA in the sera of 57 untreated cancer patients and 147 normal individuals was significantly lower than in 277 treated cancer patients (p=0.001, Pearson's Chi-squared test). The incidence of AEA was higher in cancer patients with disseminated disease than in patients with localised disease. Furthermore, 8/28 patients with AEA but only 20/242 without AEA, died during the course of this study (p=0.01, Pearson's Chi-squared test). Discussion - The higher incidence of AEA in the sera of treated cancer patients was predictable. To assess the clinical usefulness of these findings, longer-term follow-up studies need to be undertaken.