Pulmonary macrophages suppress the proliferation and cytotoxicity of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes.

Adoptive immunotherapy with interleukin-2 and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) is rarely effective in primary lung cancer. We hypothesize that pulmonary macrophages (PM), which are increased substantially in the lungs of smokers, might suppress TIL function. The addition of PM into the TIL cytotoxicity assay produced a concentration-dependent suppression of TIL cytotoxicity with up to 71% inhibition of autologous tumor killing at the 1:1 PM:TIL ratio. Inhibition was not target-specific, as killing of NK-sensitive (K562), NK-resistant (M14), and autologous tumor targets were equally suppressed. Nor was inhibition specific for lung TIL, as similar inhibition was observed with melanoma and renal TIL. Using a model system, we demonstrated that both CD3+ antigen-specific and CD56+ nonspecific lymphocytes are susceptible to the suppressive effects of the PM. Direct co-incubation of PM and TIL for 4 to 44 h resulted in progressive suppression of TIL proliferation and cytotoxicity. TIL cytotoxicity remained suppressed even if PM were removed from the co-culture after 24 h, but was restored if the separated TIL were re-incubated in interleukin-2. These results suggest that PM may locally regulate the proliferative and cytotoxic function of adoptively transferred TIL.