Induction by OK-432 of lymphokine activated killer precursor cells in hepatocellular carcinoma.
We investigated the question whether lymphokine-activated killer precursor (pre-LAK) cells are induced by OK-432 in vivo, in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Ten patients with HCC were randomly divided into two groups. In group A (n = 5), OK-432 was pre-operatively administered via the hepatic artery. The group B patients (n = 5) served as controls. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) were collected from the resected tumors. The cytotoxicity of TILs against natural killer (NK)-sensitive K562 cells and NK-insensitive Raji cells was examined by phenotypic analysis with flow cytometry. Freshly isolated TILs, whether treated with OK-432 or not, showed low cytotoxicity against both tumor cells. However, OK-432 pretreatment increased the T-lymphocyte population of TILs, particularly with interleukin-2 (IL-2) receptor positive cells. When TILs were co-cultured with recombinant interleukin-2 (rIL-2), the cytotoxicity was significantly activated in the OK-432 treated group, while untreated TILs showed no activation (P < 0.05). We postulate that pre-LAK cells are induced by OK-432 in TILs, mainly from the T-lymphocyte population. The possibility that LAK cells can be endogenously induced in HCC if OK-432 and rIL-2 are concomitantly administered needs to be considered for immunotherapy to HCC.
Department of Surgery I, Oita Medical University, Japan.
M
M
Aramaki
Y I
YI
Kim
K
K
Shimoda
K
K
Nakashima
K
K
Okada
M
M
Kobayashi
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000494:pharmacology; D015979:Killer Cells, Lymphokine-Activated / Q000276:immunology*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy; D016246:Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010844:Picibanil / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000276:immunology
D007376:Interleukin-2; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D010844:Picibanil