Functional properties of tumor-infiltrating and blood lymphocytes in patients with solid tumors: effects of tumor cells and their supernatants on proliferative responses of lymphocytes.

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Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) were obtained from 22 humans with solid tumors. In three cases only, one colon and two lung carcinomas, TIL which contained from 3 to 10% of T cells expressing the interleukin 2 receptor (IL 2R) were obtained, and these proliferated in the presence of exogenous IL 2. In most TIL preparations, however, the T lymphocytes did not express the IL 2R and failed to proliferate in response to IL 2. In contrast, TIL were able to proliferate in response to irradiated allogeneic spleen cells in mixed lymphocyte culture. Proliferative responses of autologous PBL were not inhibited by the addition of TIL. In most tumors, the TIL showed no response or had significantly lower (p less than 0.01) responses to PHA, Con A, and the phorbol ester TPA than did autologous peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL). A limiting-dilution microculture system which allows clonal growth of every T cell was used to demonstrate decreased responses of the TIL to PHA at a single-cell level. In contrast to normal PBL-T with proliferating frequencies from 0.46 to 1.0, those for T cells in three TIL preparations were zero, 0.005, and 0.01. Normal PBL exposed in vitro to tumor cells or their supernatants lost the ability to respond to mitogens and to clone normally (e.g., proliferating frequency of 0.147 vs 0.863 in control). The TIL isolated from solid tumors resemble normal PBL exposed in vitro to tumor cells or their supernatants in terms of decreased responses to mitogens and poor clonogenicity in the PHA-dependent microculture system. It is possible that tumor cells may inhibit certain functions of the TIL in human solid tumors.