Systemic intravenous adoptive transfer of autologous lymphokine-activated t-cells improves temozolomideinduced lymphopenia in patients with glioma

Abstract

In this clinical study, we investigated the safety and clinical usefulness of systemic adoptive immunotherapy using autologous lymphokine-activated T-cells ( Tcells), combined with standard therapies, in patients with malignant brain tumors. Twenty-three patients with different malignant brain tumors, consisting of 14 treated with temozolomide (TMZ group) and 9 treated without temozolomide (non-TMZ group), received systemic intravenous injections of T-cells (mean=10.4 injections/patient for the TMZ group, and 4.78 for the non-TMZ group). No significant adverse effects associated with the T-cell injection were observed, and the total lymphocyte count (TLC) improved significantly in the TMZ group after five injections. Furthermore, CD8-positive or Tcell receptor V gamma-positive cells were increased with TLC in three patients with glioblastoma multiforme. These findings suggest that systemic T-cell immunotherapy is well tolerated, and may help restore an impaired and imbalanced T-cell immune status, and temozolomide-and/or radiotherapy-induced lymphopenia. Future prospective study is needed to clarify the clinical merits of this immunotherapy.