Resident research award: tumor necrosis factor alpha selectively enhances growth and cytotoxic activity of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes from human colorectal cancer.

Adoptive immunotherapy with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) and interleukin-2 (IL2) can induce regression of tumor metastases in animal models and in human metastatic malignant melanoma. We investigated the potential of colorectal cancer TIL as a source of killer cells and the effect of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) in combination with IL2 on their cytotoxic activity. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes were isolated from surgical specimens using a mechanical and enzymatic dissociation process. Autologous lamina propria mononuclear cells (LPMC) were used as control. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and LPMC were cultured in the presence of IL2 with/without TNF alpha (1000 U/ml each) for 5 to 8 weeks. Cytotoxicity (% lysis) was tested against Daudi target cells in a 4-hr 51Cr-release assay. The combination of IL2 and TNF alpha resulted in a significantly greater-fold expansion of TIL than IL2 alone (P less than 0.01). Lamina propria mononuclear cells expanded less than TIL, and TNF alpha had an inhibitory effect on their growth (P less than 0.05). Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and LPMC showed comparable cytotoxicity when cultured with IL2 alone. However, the addition of TNF alpha augmented the killer activity of TIL while inhibiting that of LPMC (P = 0.035). These results indicate that TNF alpha selectively increases the IL2-induced growth and cytotoxic function of colorectal cancer TIL, but not those of gut mucosal lymphoid cells, suggesting that TIL and LMPC differ in their response to TNF alpha. Therefore, this combination of cytokines may hold more promise than single agents for the immunotherapy of colorectal cancers with TIL.     

Study on adoptive immunotherapy with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) for renal cell carcinoma--amplification of IL-2-elicited TIL proliferation by OKT3-monoclonal antibody

Human autologous peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) and lymphocytes infiltrating renal cell carcinoma (TIL) were cultured with medium containing 1000 IU/ml of human interleukin 2 (IL-2). A high cytotoxic activity against fresh autologous as well as cultured allogenic tumor cells was developed. By culturing these lymphocytes with OKT3 monoclonal antibody during the initial 2 days of long-term culture, in terms of T cell activation signal, IL-2-driven lymphocyte proliferation was remarkably accelerated with maintenance of appreciable level of cytotoxic activity. The same culture method also induced an increase in OKT3 and IL-2 receptor positive lymphocyte population in LAK cells and TIL. This method may enable us to gain more autologous TIL in vitro for adoptive immunotherapy of renal cell carcinoma than the usual culture method with IL-2 alone. Five patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma were treated with adoptive immunotherapy with TIL, LAK and IL-2. One patient with pulmonary metastasis has had a minor response which has lasted for 3 months so far. We have not experienced any serious side effects during the treatment.     

Cytotoxicity of lymphocytes sensitized by autologous tumor cells in vitro, against autologous lung cancer cell lines

In order to obtain killer lymphocytes that would have a strong cytotoxicity against autologous tumor cells, we conducted a cytotoxic assay of effector cells cultured from human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) using 10 cultured lung cancer cell lines as target cells. We present this result. (1) Lymphocytes obtained by 17 days mixed lymphocyte tumor cell culture (MLTC: Fresh PBL from lung cancer patients was mixed with irradiated autologous tumor cells in a medium, and cultured for 3 days. Irradiated allogeneic lymphocytes were then added, and cultured for 14 days) were cytotoxic against 4 of the 10 autologous lung cancer cell lines. (2) Lymphocytes obtained by 14 days MLTC and 3 more days culture in a medium containing interleukin 2 were cytotoxic against all 10 of the autologous lung cancer cell lines. These lymphocytes proliferated to 4.13 times of the original cell number, and their surface marker was OKT3+. These killer lymphocytes are expected to be effective in adoptive immunotherapy as effector cells.     

Adriamycin-mediated potentiation of cytotoxicity against freshly isolated bladder cancer cells by autologous non-activated peripheral blood lymphocytes and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes

PURPOSE: Previous studies indicated that cancer patients lack functional anti-tumor cytotoxic lymphocytes. However, anti-tumor cytotoxic lymphocytes may coexist with immunoresistant tumor cells. We reasoned that anti-tumor cytotoxic activity of lymphocytes may be revealed if the tumor cells are sensitized to killing. It has been reported that adriamycin (ADR) exhibits various immunomodulating activities. In the present study, we investigate the effect of ADR on the susceptibility of freshly isolated bladder cancer cells to lysis by autologous non-activated peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cytotoxicity was determined by a 1-day microculture tetrazolium dye assay. RESULTS: Treatment of ADR-resistant fresh bladder cancer cells with ADR at 0.1 microg./ml. or more for 3 hours or more enhanced their susceptibility to lysis by autologous PBL. This ADR-induced enhancement of susceptibility of fresh bladder cancer cells to lysis by PBL was also observed when lymphokine activated killer cells, purified natural killer cells and T lymphocytes were used as effector cells. Furthermore, while cytotoxicity of freshly derived TIL against autologous bladder cancer cells was minimal, significant cytotoxicity was observed with ADR-treated bladder cancer cells. The ADR analogs, epirubicin and pirarubicin, also enhanced the susceptibility of bladder cancer cells to lysis by autologous PBL. Treatment of bladder cancer cells with ADR had no effect on the expression of MHC class I on the cancer cells or the frequency of bladder cancer target cell conjugates to autologous PBL. Treatment of bladder cancer cells with ADR augmented their sensitivity to anti-Fas monoclonal antibody and tumor necrosis factor-a. Pretreatment of effector cells with ADR had no effect on their cytotoxic function. CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate that PBL and TIL in patients with bladder cancer exhibit anti-tumor cytotoxic function, but their function is not manifested due to development or acquisition of tumor cell resistance to killing. However, the resistance of bladder cancer cells to killing by cytotoxic lymphocytes is overcome if cancer cells are sensitized by subtoxic concentrations of ADR. These findings suggest that treatment of bladder cancer patients with low doses of ADR may sensitize the cancer cells to killing by autologous circulating and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes and may be a novel immunotherapeutic modality for the treatment of drug-resistant and/or immune-resistant bladder cancer.     

Dissociation Between T Helper Type 1 and Type 2 Differentiation and Cytokine Production in Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Patients with Lung Cancer

We recently reported the balance of T helper type 1 (Th1) cells and type 2 (Th2) cells in patients with lung carcinomas. This study was conducted to investigate their activity and role in tumors, which remain unclear. We determined the population of lymphocytes with intracellular interferon (IFN)-γ or interleukin (IL)-4 by flow cytometry, and investigated cytokine production using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 22 patients with non-small cell lung cancer. The IFN-γ-positive subset showed a significant increase in the number of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) compared with the peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) (PBL, 13.8% ± 1.5%; TIL, 34.3% ± 3.4%; P < 0.001), and the IL-4 positive subset showed reverse results (PBL, 3.7% ± 0.6%; TIL, 2.1% ± 0.3%; P = 0.037). However, TIL did not produce more IFN-γ than PBL. The results of intracellular IFN-γ analysis and the production of IFN-γ in PBL and TIL were significantly correlated (PBL: n = 22, r = 0.50, P = 0.025; TIL: n = 22, r = 0.44, P = 0.022). The dissociation between Th1 differentiation and IFN-γ production in TIL was one of the host factors influencing the immune anergy against tumors. Received: March 13, 2000 / Accepted: November 20, 2000     

肿瘤浸润性淋巴细胞在白细胞介素-2、-4协同下局部过继免疫治疗膀胱癌的实验研究

目的　观察膀胱癌肿瘤浸润性淋巴细胞 (TIL)联合不同细胞因子瘤灶内过继免疫抗癌的效应及对机体全身抗肿瘤免疫机制的影响。方法　建立BTT73 9动物模型 ,分离、培养TIL。采用正交设计实验方法 ,将TIL、白细胞介素 (IL) 2、 4及三因素交互组合悬液分别直接注射至瘤体内 ,定期测量肿瘤体积 ,免疫治疗 2周后检测NK细胞活性、T淋巴细胞转刺激指数 ,观察组织学及超微结构变化。结果　比较对照组 ,治疗 2周时各TIL相关组均不同程度抑制了膀胱肿瘤体积的增长 ,且NK细胞活性及T淋巴细胞转化增殖能力得以提高 (P <0 .0 5 )。TIL/IL 2疗法明显抑制了瘤体的增长 ,免疫治疗 1周后即表现出协同增强效应 (P <0 .0 5 ) ,而NK细胞活性及T淋巴细胞转刺激指数也显著提高 (P <0 .0 5 )。TIL/IL 2 /IL 4组获得了较强的抗癌功效 ,但与TIL/IL 2组差异无显著性 (P >0 .0 5 )。超微结构变化显示出TIL强烈的溶癌现象。结论　TIL在细胞因子特别是IL 2协同下瘤灶内注射的局部免疫疗法 ,具有较强的抗膀胱癌效应 ,并显著提高了机体全身抗瘤免疫功能。     

Activation by the protein-bound polysaccharide PSK (krestin) of cytotoxic lymphocytes that act on fresh autologous tumor cells and T24 human urinary bladder transitional carcinoma cell line in patients with urinary bladder cancer

PSK, a protein-bound polysaccharide Kureha, was tested for its ability to modulate the cytotoxicity of lymphocytes that act on autologous tumor cells and T24 human urinary bladder tumor cells in urinary bladder cancer patients in a 6-h 51Cr release assay. In vitro treatment of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) with PSK for 18 hours resulted in an augmentation or induction of cytotoxicity against relatively resistant T24 cells in previously reactive and nonreactive cases, respectively. The PSK-treated PBL were able to kill more effectively tumor cells that were freshly isolated from the same cancer patients than non-treated PBL. The effects of PSK were noted with PBL as well as tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) and with PSK at concentrations of 10 to 100 micrograms./ml., while PSK at higher doses reduced their lytic activities. The addition of PSK to the assay at the same concentrations also enhanced the cytotoxicities. Autologous tumor killing (ATK) activities of both large granular lymphocytes (LGL) and T lymphocytes were enhanced by PSK. Treatment of PBL with PSK did not effect on the proportion of PBL binding to the tumor cells, while it augmented the cytotoxic activity. Cell-free supernatant of PSK-stimulated lymphocyte culture did not contain any detectable amounts of interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha), interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and interleukin-2 (IL-2). In addition, anti-IFN-alpha monoclonal antibody (MAb), anti-IFN-gamma MAb and anti-IL-2 MAb did not inhibit PSK-induced augmentation of cytotoxicity against T24. Oral administration of PSK (three gm./day) to patients with urinary bladder cancer daily for seven days before operation resulted in an augmentation of the cytotoxicity against T24 cells in five out of 10 patients and no change of the cytotoxicity in the other five patients. ATK activity was also enhanced by oral administration of PSK in three out of five patients. These results indicate that the antitumor activity of PSK may be in part mediated through activation of tumor killing system independent of IFN-alpha, IFN-gamma and IL-2.     

Augmentation of cytotoxicity of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes by interleukin-2 in gastric cancer patients

Lymphocyte infiltration into tumor has been regarded as an expression of host reaction against tumor, but the natural cytotoxicity of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TLL) is often very low. In order to augment this low cytotoxicity, TIL of gastric cancer patients were cultured with interleukin-2 (IL-2) in vitro. On the other hand, immunopotentiators (OK432, PSK) were injected into gastric cancer intralesionally under endoscopy. By the in-vitro culture with IL-2, the cytotoxicity of TIL was augmented against both targets of K562 and MNN28 (gastric carcinoma cell line). In particular, the augmentation of cytotoxicity against MKN28 was more obvious in TLL than PBL (peripheral blood lymphocytes). In the ascitic lymphocytes, the in-vitro culture with IL-2 induced autologous tumor cell killing. Intralesional injection of OK432 or PSK augmented the natural cytotoxicity of TIL, and the ratio of OKT8 and Leu7 cells increased in the TIL of OK432-injected group.     

Immunology of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes.

Frequently peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) do not reflect the tumor host relationship and cell mediated immunity in the PBL does not often correlate with prognosis. The tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) interact most closely with the tumor cells and are likely to more accurately reflect tumor host interactions. These studies indicate that TIL from pulmonary tumors are similar to PBL so far as their cell surface markers are concerned. The percentage of T-cells, B-cells, helper cells, suppressor cells, and NK cells are similar in the two compartments. However, the TIL are markedly suppressed in their functional capacity as measured by their proliferative and cytotoxic activity. In addition, natural killer (NK) cell activity is markedly diminished in TIL as opposed to the PBL. In addition, the direct injection of BCG into these tumors reverses this phenomenon by significantly increasing T-cell and NK cell functional activity. Thus, the microenvironment of the tumor profoundly affects the immunologic relationship between the tumor and the host.     

Anti-tumor effect of LAK (lymphokine activated killer) cells against human bladder tumors transplanted to nude mouse

The effect of lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells on bladder tumor was examined in vivo and in vitro. In the in vitro experiment, 51Cr-cytotoxic assay was performed for which PBL were used as effector cells. A LAK activity of 26.6% was observed in PBL cultured with IL2 for 4 days, whereas OK-432-induced LAK activity was 22%. Furthermore, in the in vivo experiment, the anti-tumor effect of LAK cells was evaluated in human bladder tumor transplanted into nude mouse. IL2, OK432-induced LAK cells were injected intratumorally. In the LAK-treated group, inhibition of tumor growth was seen. Histologically, it was demonstrated that infiltrating lymphocytes were scattered around tumor cells. The augmentation of NK activity in spleen cells was observed in the LAK-treated group. Although further studies are required to establish its full significance, these findings suggest that immunotherapy against bladder tumors is hopeful.     

Natural killer activity of lymphocytes infiltrating human lung cancers following preoperative systemic recombinant interleukin 2

Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) show depressed natural killer (NK) activity compared with peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs). To determine if TIL NK function can be reactivated in vivo, 11 patients with tumors metastatic to the lung were treated with systemic recombinant interleukin 2 (rIL-2). Spontaneous TIL NK activity and NK activity after three days' incubation with 100 U/mL of rIL-2 were increased in patients receiving 15,000 U/kg of rIL-2 preoperatively compared with those receiving between 1000 and 10,000 U/kg. Histologically, higher doses of rIL-2 increased the number of intratumoral lymphocytes, the level of peritumoral lymphocytic transferrin, and the expression of HLA-DR. Spontaneous PBL NK activity in patients receiving between 10,000 and 15,000 U/kg of rIL-2 was also increased and was further increased by in vitro culture with rIL-2. Thus, PBL NK activity and TIL NK function in vivo can be augmented with 15,000 U/kg of systemic rIL-2. Both TIL- and PBL-inducible cytotoxicities were further enhanced by in vitro culture with rIL-2.     

The immune defense system in gastric cancer tissue, regional lymph node and spleen--aspects from subsets and functions of lymphocytes

Tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) and lymph node lymphocytes (LNL) were thought to play an important role in local immunity against cancer. But the natural cytotoxicity (NC) of TIL and LNL was very weak, and was not augmented by beta-IFN. This low cytotoxicity was augmented by IL-2, and especially LNL were activated to have higher lymphokine activated killer (LAK) activity than that of PBL. So it was proven that TIL and LNL had an potential of immunological defence system. In order to bring out these potential, immunomodulators (OK-432, PSK) were injected intralesionally under endoscopy one week prior to surgery. The cytotoxicity of TIL and LNL was augmented by the intralesional injection of OK-432 or PSK. There was no significant difference in LAK activity of LNL among the OK-432-, PSK-injected group, and the control. The 2-year survival rate of the OK-432-injected group was much longer than that of the control. From above results, intralesional injection of immunomodulators was thought to be a promising candidate for the immunotherapy of gastric cancer.     

Antitumor Killer Lymphocytes in the Peripheral Blood of a Patient with Transitional Cell Carcinoma of the Bladder

Background: Peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) from patients with bladder cancer also contain cells possessing cytotoxic activity against autologous tumor cells. These cells are phenotypically heterogenous and include natural killer (NK) and cytotoxic T cells. This study investigated the role of cytotoxic lymphocytes directed against autologous bladder cancer cells.
Methods: PBL were obtained at intervals before and after surgery and analyzed for cytotoxic activity against autologous bladder cancer cells in 4-hour⁵¹ Cr release assay. PBL stimulated with autologous tumor cells were also transformed with human T-lymphotropic virus type-1, establishing a cell line (KB31) which was analyzed for phenotype and cytotoxic activity against the autologous tumor cells.
Results: PBL preoperative cytotoxic activity was low, but increased after surgery. Cytotoxic activity was found not only against autologous bladder cancer cells, but also against heterologous bladder cancer (KK-47) and myeloid leukemia (K562) cells, with the highest activity against the heterologous cell lines. The cytotoxic activity of KB31 was 40|X% against autologous tumor cells 6 weeks after initiation of the cell line, but decreased to 5|X% by 6 months. This activity was lower than that against the other cell lines, and was similar to that of PBL in short-term culture. Fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) analysis demonstrated that in KB31 cells at 6 weeks, CD8+ cells were dominant, but CD56+ cells predominated at 6 months.
Conclusion: These results suggest that the presence of cytotoxic activity in the peripheral blood of the patient was due to both cytotoxic T cells and NK cells. The cytotoxic activity was lowest prior to surgery and increased postoperatively.     

Cell-mediated cytotoxic activity of regional lymph node cells from patients with gastric carcinoma

The cell-mediated cytotoxic activities of cells from the perigastric lymph nodes (LNC) were assayed in patients with gastric carcinoma. These activities were compared with those of the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBM), and also with the LNC of patients with benign lesions. The capacity of LNC to be converted to cytotoxic cells in mixed cell culture was significantly impaired in the cancer patients as compared to that of either the PBM from the same patients, or the LNC from patients with benign lesions. The natural killer cell (NK) activity of LNC was significantly lower than that of the PBM in both groups of patients. The cytotoxic activity induced by phytohemagglutinin activation (PAK) in the LNC from patients with carcinoma, as well as from those with benign lesions was also significantly decreased, when compared to that of the PBM, although the ability of LNC to produce interleukin 2 (IL 2) was significantly increased. The ability of these cells to generate cytotoxicity after activation with IL 2 (LAK) was therefore examined, and a decreased capacity in LNC was observed. These results indicated that the ability of T cells in LNC to develop into cytotoxic cells in patients with gastric carcinoma was impaired, and that the nonspecific cytotoxicity, including NK or PAK, as well as LAK activity, was essentially low in the perigastric lymph nodes.     

Cell-mediated cytotoxic activity of regional lymph node cells from patients with gastric carcinoma

The cell-mediated cytotoxic activities of cells from the perigastric lymph nodes (LNC) were assayed in patients with gastric carcinoma. These activities were compared with those of the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBM), and also with the LNC of patients with benign lesions. The capacity of LNC to be converted to cytotoxic cells in mixed cell culture was significantly impaired in the cancer patients as compared to that of either the PBM from the same patient, or the LNC from patients with benign lesions. The natural killer cell (NK) activity of LNC was significantly lower than that of the PBM in both groups of patients. The cytotoxic activity induced by phytohemagglutinin activation (PAK) in the LNC from patients with carcinoma, as well as from those with benign lesions was also significantly decreased, when compared to that of the PBM, although the ability of LNC to produce interleukin 2 (IL 2) was significantly increased. The ability of these cells to generate cytotoxicity after activation with IL 2 (LAK) was therefore examined, and a decreased capacity in LNC was observed. These results indicated that the ability of T cells in LNC to develop into cytotoxic cells in patients with gastric carcinoma was impaired, and that the nonspecific cytotoxicity, including NK or PAK, as well as LAK activity, was essentially low in the perigastric lymph nodes.     

Immunotherapy of malignant gliomas

Some recent immunological approaches to therapy of cancer are briefly considered. The possibility of the application of immunotherapy to malignant gliomas was investigated in vitro, evaluating the cytotoxic activity of Interleukin-2-activated lymphocytes against cultured human glioma cells. The possibility of generating valid cytotoxic effectors from glioma patients peripheral blood was also investigated in consideration of the immunological alterations reported in such patients.     

白细胞介素(IL)-2与IL-4对小鼠膀胱癌肿瘤浸润性淋巴细胞增殖及细胞毒性的协同调节作用

目的 探讨白细胞介素（ＩＬ）－２与ＩＬ－４对膀胱癌肿瘤浸润性淋巴细胞（ＴＩＬ）体外增殖及细胞毒性免疫调控的协同作用。方法 分离膀胱癌ＴＩＬ,置于含ＩＬ－２和（或）ＩＬ－２的完全培养基因中培养４周,定期计数ＴＩＬ增殖数量。四甲基偶氮唑蓝（ＭＴＴ）比色法检测ＴＩＬ细胞毒性。结果 对比单纯ＩＬ－２的培养条件,ＩＬ－２联合ＩＬ－４后４周时ＴＩＬ扩增数量是前者的１．６５倍（Ｐ〈０．０５）。在交靶比为１０：１时,ＴＩＬ对自体膀胱癌细胞（ＢＴＴ７３９）表现出高水平的杀伤活性（Ｐ〈０．０５）。联合培养的ＴＩＬ抗ＢＴＴ３９或小鼠淋巴瘤瘤株（ＹＡＣ－１）的活性与在单纯ＩＬ－２培养的条件下相比无显著改变（Ｐ均〉０．０５）。结论 ＩＬ－４对ＩＬ－２活化的膀胱癌ＴＩＬ增殖具有较强的正向调节效应,而对ＴＩＬ细胞毒性未见明显影响。     

肾癌TIL的分离培养和其表型分析

对两例原发性肾癌患者手术切除肿瘤组织中肿瘤浸润性淋巴细胞（ＴＩＬ）进行了体外分离与培养。结果表明：ＴＩＬ体外扩增倍数分别达３２～２０３倍，对自体肿瘤靶细胞的最高杀伤活性达５３％和６４％，且呈现一定的靶细胞特异性。免疫组化分析结果：未经激活的ＴＩＬ细胞其膜抗原（ＣＤ３，ＣＤ４，ＣＤ８）的表达动态变化不大，但经ＩＬ－２激活的ＴＩＬ细胞随着培养无数的增加，其ＣＤ３细胞数比例及ＣＤ４／ＣＤ８比值上升明显，在培养至３２天时分别达９５％和１．６５。     

Study of cytotoxicity of recombinant interleukin-2 (rIL-2) expanded tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) in renal cell cancer

We studied subsets and cytotoxicity of recombinant interleukin-2 (rIL-2) expanded tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) from renal cell cancer (RCC) patients. TIL were successfully expanded in 13 of 14 RCC cases using anti-CD3 during initial 48 hours of culture. Percentages of CD8 positive cells among rIL-2 expanded TIL at 1 tp 4 week(s) of culture were 56.2 +/- 15.1% (range 26.2 to 79.8%, N = 13) and not necessarily predominant over CD4 positive cells. NK and LAK activities of TIL at 3 to 6 weeks of culture were 31.6 +/- 15.8% (range 1.4 to 57.4%, N = 9) and 16.6 +/- 11.6% (range 3.8 to 35.6%, N = 6), respectively. Autologous and allogeneic RCC cytotoxicity of TIL at 3 to 4 weeks of culture were 17.9 +/- 19.7% (range 0 to 47.6%, N = 4) and 18.9 +/- 14.8% (range 0 to 47.3%, N = 12), respectively. Since there was no statistical difference between them, autologous specific cytotoxicity was not demonstrated. From these results of present study, it is unlikely that most of effector cells of rIL-2 expanded TIL in autologous RCC lysis are major histocompatibility complex restricted cytotoxic T cells. And we concluded that it is doubtful that TIL is significantly superior over LAK cells in immunotherapy of human RCC.     

Adoptive immunotherapy using specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes against human lung-cancer-engrafted severe combined immunodeficiency mice.

OBJECTIVE: We studied the ability of human lung-cancer-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes to suppress the growth of human lung adenocarcinoma (PC-9) engrafted in severe combined immunodeficiency mice. METHODS: PC-9-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes were generated by multiple stimulation with irradiated PC-9 cells of regional lymph node lymphocytes from lung cancer patients expressing the same human leukocyte antigen-A locus haplotype as PC-9 following expansion due to the administration of immobilized anti cluster of differentiation 3 mAb and interleukin-2. Cytotoxic T lymphocytes showed specific cytotoxicity against PC-9 cells in vitro. Severe combined immunodeficiency mice with a subcutaneous graft of PC-9 were treated with a PC-9-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte by i.v. injection and/or with interleukin-2 by s.c. injection. RESULTS: Cytotoxic T lymphocyte treatment suppressed PC-9 graft growth significantly an effect, significantly enhanced when combined with interleukin-2 injection. To evaluate the in vivo specificity of anti-PC-9 cytotoxic T lymphocytes, each mouse was subcutaneously inoculated in the right flank with PC-9, and in the left flank with A549 or Sq-1. Cytotoxic T lymphocytes plus interleukin-2 treatment was found to suppress PC-9 growth selectively, but not A549 or Sq-1 growth. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide sufficient rationale for conducting further clinical trials on immunotherapy using cytotoxic T lymphocyte for lung cancer patients.