The value of the leukocyte adherence inhibition (LAI) test in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCG) was investigated in 36 patients with this tumor. The sensitivity and specificity of the tube LAI test was assessed in 21 patients with HCC, 15 apparently healthy individuals, 9 patients with various forms of benign liver disease and 5 patients with non-hepatic neoplasms. In only 42% of the HCC patients tested was leukocyte adherence to glass reduced to a greater extent than in the healthy controls and in the patients with non-hepatic neoplasms, and the differences were not statistically significant. Moreover, positive results were obtained in 6/9 patients with benign hepatic disease. A further 15 patients were tested against extracts of HCC tissue using the haemacytometer LAI method. Of these, 53% gave positive results. In all, only 17/36 patients (47%) gave positive LAI responses. The test is thus of limited value in the diagnosis of HCC. The high false-negative result rate may be due either to abrogation of the immune response in HCC patients with large tumor burdens or to antigenic heterogeneity in HCC.
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