Clinical research on the antitumor activity and phenotype of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes for treatment of lung cancer

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To evaluate the feasibility and toxicity of the infusion of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes ( TIL) with rIL-2 in patients with lung cancer. TILs derived from tissue samples which obtained from the surgically removed tumors of 51 patients were cultivated in vitro. Fifteen patients were infused with 0. 2×10⁸ to 1. 62×10⁸ TIL cells intravenously at 2-8 weeks after operation and rIL-2 was inhaled into lung at dose of 3×10⁵ U/ day for 3 days. TIL cytolytic activities on day 0 and day 25th after incubation were assessed with 3H-TdR release assay in vitro while the positive proportion of phenotypes of TIL were estimated with indirect immunofluorescence technique. The cytolytic activity of TIL against autologous tumor cell and 801-D cell line after incubation ( 50. 35% and 42. 81% respectively) was significantly higher than that before incubation ( 13. 01% and 11. 46% respectively) ( P < 0. 05) . There was no apparent difference of the cytolytic activity between autologous tumor cell group and 801-D cell line group. The percentage of CD3+ and CD8+ TILs after culture was significant higher than that before cultivation( P < 0. 05) and there was no change in the percentage of CD4+ TILs and the ratio of CD4+ / CD8+ . Adverse effects were mild, only 3 of 15 patients had fever, headache, and nausea immediately after infusion of TIL and then recovered within several hours. Others had no any side effects. The immunity function of all patients was improved after infusion. The result suggests that the infusion of expanded TILs in vitro, derived from surgical samples, is feasible and safe in patients with locally advanced lung cancer.