The dilution in the circulating blood of lymphocytes lablled in vitro with 3H-cytidine was examined after autotransfusion in 9 patients with Hodgkin's disease (HD) stage II A-IV B, 5 of whom were untreated; in 2 untreated patients with carcinoma, and in 1 treated patient with scleroderma. The blood transit time of exchangeable lymphocytes was 37 +/- 18 min in the patients with HD and 26 +/- 6 min in the other patients. The proportion of exchangeable (recirculating) small blood lymphocytes was 39-84% in HD and 81-91% in the carcinoma patients. The relation between the size of the circulating pool of small blood lymphocytes and the total exchangeable (recirculating) lymphocyte pool was 1:20 to 1:30 in HD and 1:29 to 1:34 in the other patients. The absolute size of the recirculating pool of lymphocytes was 46-90 times 10(9) cells in HD and 100-150 times 10(9) cells in the carcinoma patients.