[Studies on the E rosette test (author's transl)].

The number of T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of normal subjects and patients with bronchial carcinoma was determined by using the E rosette test. In a comparative study we counted the "total" rosette forming cells and the "active" rosette forming cells using a lymphocytes-sheep red cells-ratio (Ly-SRBC-R) of 1:8 and 1:40. The numbers or rosettes in the two test systems are in correlation with the Ly-SRBC-R despite other differences in the techniques. -A significant difference was determined between normal subjects and patients with the "active" rosette test only with a L-SRBC-R of 1:40. By contrast the values with the L-SRBC-R of 1:8 were not very different between the two groups. -Also the number of "total" rosettes was significantly different between blood donors and carcinoma patients, using the L-SRBC-R. 1:40. -These results are not of direct clinical relevance, because the values of normal subjects and carcinoma patients are overlapping.