“…Thus, T lym phocytes from patients with MDS show a defective mitogenic response, an altered distribution of peri pheral blood (PB) subpopulations, and patients fre quently have either a polyclonal or monoclonal serum Ig component [2][3][4][5][6][7], Less data exist on lymphocyte-mediated cytotoxic activities which are one functional expression of the cell regulation involved in hemopoiesis, in the sur veillance mechanism against early neoplasias and in the defence against infectious disease [8,9]. Some au thors have explored NK activity and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) by the standard 51Cr release assay [7,10,[11][12][13][14], but no data exist, to our knowledge, on mitogen-induced cellular cytotox icity (MICC) in MDS. In this study we examined pe ripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMNC) surface markers, NK activity, [both in the 5lCr release assay and in a single cell cytotoxicity assay (SCCA)], ADCC and MICC in patients with MDS.…”