Leucocyte adherence inhibition assay for detection of cancer

Claim 1

In a tube leucocyte adherence inhibition assay for the detection of cancer in a subject wherein samples of a known amount of peripheral blood leucocyte are incubated horizontally with either specific or nonspecific tumor antigen extracts in test tubes, the test tubes are carefully placed vertically and the non-adherent cells are counted for each sample and the non-adherent index determined, the improvement which comprises: (a) preincubating said peripheral blood leucocytes with an effective concentration of an agent which maximizes cAMP levels in leucocytes to thereby heighten the LAI response of such leucocytes; and (b) treating said adherent or non-adherent cells with a vital cell dye selected from the group consisting of methylene blue, nonspecific esterase and neutral red, separating said adherent or non-adherent cells, extracting said dye, determining the optical adsorption of said extracted solution which is directly proportional to the number of cells present thus providing the number of adhering or non-adhering cells without the necessity of optically counting such cell directly wherein said agent which maximizes cAMP levels in the leucocytes is a prostaglandin compound which stimulates leucocyte cAMP or a phosphodiesterase inhibitor which prevents cAMP destruction.