Development of long-term cell lines and lymphoid clones reactive against murine and human tumors: A new approach to the adoptive immunotherapy of cancer

We have investigated the use of T-cell growth factor (TCGF) to isolate and grow, in long-term culture, lymphoid cells with immunologic reactivity directed against syngeneic murine and autologous human tumors. Splenocytes from mice immune to a methylcholanthrene-induced sarcoma were expanded in TCGF, both before and after in vitro mixed lymphocyte-tumor cultures, and expressed high levels of cytotoxicity for fresh syngeneic solid tumor cells. Cloned lines have been isolated with a high level of specific lysis for the immunizing tumor. Similar studies of cytotoxic reactivity to a syngeneic FBL-3 lymphoma have given rise to long-term cytotoxic cell lines growing in TCGF capable of curing mice with disseminated lymphoma in adoptive transfer studies. Exposure to TCGF, of human peripheral lymphoid cells from cancer-bearing patients, results in the development of cytotoxicity to autologous fresh tumor. We have used clonal analysis by limiting dilution techniques to isolate individual cloned cells with this autologous antitumor reactivity. Infusion of autologous cytotoxic cells expanded 10,000-fold in TCGF and labeled with ¹¹¹In into three cancer patients resulted in cell localization initially to the lung and subsequently to the liver and spleen. The application of these techniques for the cloning and expansion of antitumor T-lymphoid cells in TCGF has offered a new approach to adoptive immunotherapy.