T cell therapies.

Abstract

T cell therapies are increasingly used for the treatment of malignancies and viral-associated diseases. Initial studies focused on the use of unmanipulated T cell populations after allogeneic stem cell transplantation. More recently, the use of antigen-specific T cells has been explored. This chapter reviews the clinical experience with polyclonal Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-specific cytotoxic T cells (CTL) for the treatment of EBV-associated malignancies. Strategies on how to improve the antitumor activity of EBV-specific CTL are being discussed. If effective, these strategies will have broad implications for T cell therapies for a range of human tumors with defined antigens.