doi: 10.5732/cjc.011.10376

Ex vivo expansion of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes from nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients for adoptive immunotherapy

Jia He, Xiao-Feng Tang, Qiu-Yan Chen, Hai-Qiang Mai, Zhou-Feng Huang, Jiang Li, Yi-Xin Zeng

State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China; Department of Biotherapy, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510060, P. R. China

[Abstract] Establishing Epstein-Barr virus(EBV)-specific cytolytic T lymphocytes(EBV-CTLs) from peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMCs) for adoptive immunotherapy has been reported in EBV-associated malignancies including Hodgkin's lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC). In the current study, we performed ex vivo expansion of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes(TILs) obtained from NPC biopsy specimens with a rapid expansion protocol using anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody(OKT3), recombinant human interleukin(IL)-2, and irradiated PBMCs from healthy donors to initiate the growth of TILs. Young TIL cultures comprised of more than 90% of CD3+ T cells, a variable percentage of CD3+CD8+ and CD3+CD4+ T cells, and less than 10% of CD3-CD16+ natural killer cells, a similar phenotype of EBV-CTL cultures from PBMCs. Interestingly, TIL cultures secreted high levels of the Th1 cytokines, interferon gamma (IFNγ) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and low levels of the Th2 cytokines, IL-4 and IL-10. Moreover, young TILs could recognize autologous EBV-transformed B lymphoblast cell lines, but not autologous EBV-negative blast cells or allogeneic EBV-negative tumor cells. Taken together, these data suggest that ex vivo expansion of TILs from NPC biopsy tissue is an appealing alternative method to establish T cell-based immunotherapy for NPC.

Chinese Journal of Cancer 2012, Volume: 31, Issue 6, Page: 287-294

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Jia He, Xiao-Feng Tang, Qiu-Yan Chen, Hai-Qiang Mai, Zhou-Feng Huang, Jiang Li, Yi-Xin Zeng. Ex vivo expansion of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes from nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients for adoptive immunotherapy. Chin J Cancer. 2012, 31(6):287-294. doi:10.5732/cjc.011.10376


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