Hepatocellular carcinoma-specific immunotherapy with synthesized α1,3-galactosyl epitope-ulsed dendritic cells and cytokine-induced killer cells

AIM： To evaluate the safety and clinical efficacy of a new immunotherapy using both α-Gal epitope-pulsed dendritic cells （DCs） and cytokine-induced killer cells. METHODS： Freshly collected hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC） tumor tissues were incubated with a mixture of neuraminidase and recombinant αl,3-galactosyltrans- ferase （αI,3GT） to synthesize α-Gal epitopes on car- bohydrate chains of the glycoproteins of tumor mem- branes. The subsequent incubation of the processed membranes in the presence of human natural anti-Gal IgG resulted in the effective phagocytosis to the tumor membrane by DCs. Eighteen patients aged 38-78 years with stage 111 primary HCC were randomly chosen for the study; 9 patients served as controls, and 9 patients were enrolled in the study group.RESULTS： The evaluation demonstrated that the pro- cedure was safe; no serious side effects or autoimmune diseases were observed. The therapy significantly pro- longed the survival of treated patients as compared with the controls （17.1 ± 2.01 mo vs 10.1 ±4.5 mo, P = 0.00121）. After treatment, all patients in the study group had positive delayed hypersensitivity and robust systemic cytotoxicity in response to tumor lysate as measured by interferon-y-expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells using enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot assay. They also displayed increased numbers of CD8-, CD45RO- and CD56-positive cells in the peripheral blood and decreased α-fetoprotein level in the se- rum. CONCLUSION： This new tumor-specific immunotherapy is safe, effective and has a great potential for the treat- ment of tumors.

The clinical effects of DC-CIK cells combined with chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced NSCLC

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the safety and therapeutic effects of autologous dendritic cells co-cultured with cytokine-induced killer cells (DC-CIK) combined with chemotherapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Methods: Fifty patients with advanced NSCLC (stages III to IV), who had received therapies in our Center (Department of Biotherapy, Affiliated to Cancer Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China) from August 2008 to January 2010, were treated by DC-CIK + chemotherapy as the combined treatment group; fifty advanced NSCLC patients treated with chemotherapy at the same time served as controls. The immunologic function, short-term therapeutic effects, the 1-year survival rate, the life quality, the chemotherapy side effects were compared between the two groups, the safety and therapeutic effects of DC-CIK cells therapy were observed too. Results: There was no obvious change of subsets of T cells in peripheral blood before and after therapy in DC-CIK + chemotherapy group, and IFN-γ was improved after therapy in this group (P < 0.05); in chemotherapy alone group, the ratios of CD3+CD4+, CD3+CD8+, CD3-CD56+ cells and the secretion of IL-2, TNF-α decreased significantly after therapy (P < 0.05); the ratios of CD3+CD8+, CD3+CD56+ were improved after cell culture (P < 0.05). The disease control rate (DCR) of DC-CIK + chemotherapy group was higher than that in the chemotherapy alone group (78.0% vs 56.0%, P < 0.05); the 1-year survival rates of DC-CIK + chemotherapy group and chemotherapy alone group were 50% and 44% respectively, had no significant difference. Compared with chemotherapy alone group, the occurrence of chemotherapy side effects (including bone marrow suppression, nausea and vomiting, peripheral nerve toxicity) was less in the DC-CIK + chemotherapy group (P < 0.05). The physical and appetite were better in DC-CIK + chemotherapy group after therapy. Conclusion: To compare with simple chemotherapy, DC-CIK + chemotherapy for advanced NSCLC is safe and effective, and it can improve patients' life quality and remission rate, and prolong their survival time.

Research on the biological activity and anti-tumor effect against lymphoma cells of DC-CIK cells

Objective： To investigate the proliferation capabilities, immunophenotype changes, level of secreted cytokines and activities against lymphoma cells under the condition that cytokine-induced killer （CIK） cells co-cultured with dendritic cells （DC） in vitro. Methods： DC and CIK cells were induced from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of healthy volunteers. They were co-cultured meanwhile CIK cells were cultured alone as controls. Increased number of cells were counted by tapan-blue staining, killing activities were detected by MTT assay, immunophenotype changes were analyzed by flow cytometry, the IL-12 and INF-y levels of the cultured supernatants were detected by ELISA kits. Results： The proliferation capabilities of DC-CIK cells were significantly higher than that of CIK cells （P 〈 0.05）. Under the same condition, the ratio of double positive cells such as CD3^＋ CD8^＋, CD3^＋ CD56^＋ in CIK cells was significantly enhanced by co-cultured with DC cells （P 〈 0.05）. The level of IL-12 and INF-y secreted in supernatants was increased noticeably by co-cultured DC-CIK cells on day 3 compared to CIK cells which were cultured alone （P 〈 0.01 and P 〈 0.05）. Within the effector-target ratio range between 5：1 to 40：1, the activities against lymphoma cells of DC-CIK cells were much higher than that of CIK cells （P 〈 0.05）, and this effect was showed a positive correlation with the effector-target ratio. Conclusion： The proliferation capabilities, the level of secreted cytokines and the activities against lymphoma cells of DC-CIK cells were significantly higher than those of CIK cells. The research might provides theoretical and experimental basis for clinical immunotherapy of DC-CIK cells.

Antitumour activities of cytokine-induced killer cells and dendritic cells in vitro and in vivo

Solid tumour cells show a resistance to immunological effector cells in vitro. The resistance may be one reason why these tumours withstand immunotherapeutic approaches in humans. Dendritic cells （DC） play an important role in the immune response to tumour associated antigens in humans. DC in the periphery capture and process antigens, express lymphocyte costimulatory molecules, migrate to lymphoid organs and secrete cytokines to initiate immune response.