Abstract
The generation of lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells with recombinant interleukin 2 (rIL2) was examined in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) from oral cancer patients. 4-hour 51Cr release cytotoxicity was measured on target cells, such as fresh tumor cells, fresh skin keratinocytes, K 562, Daudi and oral squamous Ca. cell lines of Ca 9-22 and NA.
Fresh patient PBL usually had cytotoxicity for K 562, and was not cytotoxic for fresh autologous tumor cells, fresh autologous skin keratinocytes, Daudi cell and squamous Ca. cell lines unless induced with rIL2.
Of 10 patients fresh tumor cell suspensions, 6 of squamous cell carcinoma patients were significantly lysed by autologous LAK cells (mean: 17.7 per cent, range: 0.7-54.0 per cent). Fresh tumor is more resistant to normal and patient LAK cells than cultured tumor, and is more susceptible to their LAK cells than fresh skin keratinocytes used as a normal control cell, lysed in a few cases.
The ability to generate LAK activity was not influenced by the patient's age, previous therapy or tumor stage. No significant correlation between the degree of cytotoxicity and the clinical and pathological findings including tumor stage, histological grading by WHO or mononuclear cell infiltration in the tumor tissue was found.
The above results demonstrate that the administration of rIL2 alone or adoptive immunotherapy with LAK cells from PBL to patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma could be appropriate as a therapeutic procedure.
