The relationship between IL-2-R gene transcription and natural cell mediated cytotoxicity (NKCMC) in the peripheral blood lymphocytes of 15 patients with gastric carcinoma and 6 normal healthy controls were studied. NKCMC and ADCC assessed against radiolabelled K-562 and sensitized chicken RBC as respective target cells in Cr-51 release assay revealed significant reduction in patients as compared to controls. The impairment in the natural cytotoxicity was associated with decreased IL-2-R gene expression at the mRNA level in these patients. Expression of both IL-2 R alpha transcripts (3.5 and 1.5 Kb) were either not detectable or only weakly detectable on T lymphocytes from patients even after mitogenic stimulation. In contrast, a significant rise in the expression of both IL-2 R alpha transcripts was observed on T cells from normal controls followed by mitogenic challenge. We interpret our findings to reflect the direct correlation between NKCMC and IL-2-R gene transcription in gastric carcinoma patients.

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