Interleukin-2 increases the antibody response in patients receiving autologous intralymphatic tumor cell vaccine immunotherapy.
The production of tumor-binding antibodies was studied in a group of cancer patients undergoing active specific immunotherapy with irradiated, cholesterol-treated, cell culture-derived autologous tumor cells injected by the intralymphatic route. Fifteen patients were analyzed: nine patients (four melanoma, one breast, one sarcoma, one colon, and one undifferentiated cancer) received three injections of 10 to 15 x 10(6) tumor cells, spaced 2 weeks apart, and six patients (two melanoma, two renal, one breast, and one colon cancer) received tumor cells admixed with 3 x 10(6) U recombinant interleukin-2 (IL-2) (Proleukin, Cetus, Emeryville, CA, USA) plus a 10-day intravenous infusion of 15 x 10(6) U/kg/day IL-2 after each immunization. Serum antibody binding to autologous tumor cells was measured at 2 and 4 weeks after initiation of therapy using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with patient serum being added to adherent tumor cells bound to 96-well microtiter plates. After 4 weeks, we found a significant difference (0.02 less than P less than 0.04) in serum titer in the group receiving IL-2 (33% mean increase) compared with the non-IL-2 group (8% mean increase). Although neither group showed clinical improvement in response to the therapy, the results clearly demonstrated the efficacy of IL-2 in augmenting patient antibody response to autologous intralymphatic tumor cell immunization.
Williams
T W
TW
Immunotherapy Laboratory, St. Vincent Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90057.
Yanagimoto
J M
JM
Mazumder
A
A
Wiseman
C L
CL
D000912:Antibodies, Neoplasm / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D007272:Injections, Intralymphatic; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D014612:Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage
D000912:Antibodies, Neoplasm; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D007376:Interleukin-2; D014612:Vaccines