title: Activated cytotoxic T-lymphocyte immunotherapy is effective for advanced oral and maxillofacial cancers.
abstract: Conventional cancer treatments are surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, but treatment efficiency is insufficient and cancer recurrence is common. Immunotherapy has been added as an important cancer treatment component, but no reports on its efficacy in oral and maxillofacial cancers exist. We evaluated the clinical efficacy of adoptive immunotherapy using ex vivo-activated cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) in the treatment of 7 patients with advanced oral and maxillofacial cancers with stage IV disease at diagnosis. The mean follow-up period was 26.2 months. Phenotype of the lymphocyte assay revealed that the percentage of CD4(+) T cells decreased and that of CD8(+) T cells increased among infused lymphocytes compared to that in unstimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and infused lymphocytes produced a significantly higher level of IFN-γ than PBMCs or tumor cells alone. In a representative patient who refused surgery tumor regression was confirmed after CTL infusion. Computed tomography clearly indicated a significant reduction in tumor size followed by the complete disappearance of the tumor. Histological examination showed that the cancers in patients receiving CTL therapy were heavily infiltrated with lymphocytes. The other 2 patients who received CTL therapy as adjuvant therapy showed neither recurrent disease nor new disease lesions. The 1-year survival rates showing response and those with progressive disease were 100 and 25%, respectively. Moreover, no significant adverse reactions were reported during the study period. CTL therapy remains in the early stages of treatment options, but it has potential as a valuable treatment and improvement of quality of life for patients with otherwise incurable cancers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Aichi Medical University School of Medicine, Nagakute, Aichi 480-1195, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohtani
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Aichi Medical University School of Medicine, Nagakute, Aichi 480-1195, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Aichi Medical University School of Medicine, Nagakute, Aichi 480-1195, Japan.
authors.forename: Akifumi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Furuhashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Aichi Medical University School of Medicine, Nagakute, Aichi 480-1195, Japan.
authors.forename: Yukinobu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohmura
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Aichi Medical University School of Medicine, Nagakute, Aichi 480-1195, Japan.
authors.forename: Sayaka
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.affiliation: Department of Transfusion Medicine, Aichi Medical University School of Medicine, Nagakute, Aichi 480-1195, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidefumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.affiliation: Cell Therapy Center of Biochemistry, Aichi Medical University School of Medicine, Nagakute, Aichi 480-1195, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshikawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Aichi Medical University School of Medicine, Nagakute, Aichi 480-1195, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshiaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kazaoka
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016219:Immunotherapy, Adoptive; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000276:immunology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008441:Maxillary Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology