Glioblastoma patients exhibit circulating tumor-specific CD8+ T cells

There is growing interest in developing cellular immune therapies for glioblastoma multiforme, but little is known about tumor-specific T-cell responses. A glioblastoma multiforme-specific T-cell assay was developed using monocyte-derived dendritic cells to present tumor antigens from the established glioblastoma multiforme cell line U118.

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and tumor cells were obtained from nine patients with newly diagnosed brain tumors: five glioblastoma multiforme, two oligodendroglioma, one ependymoma, and one astrocytoma. PBMCs were incubated overnight with autologous tumor cells or autologous dendritic cells loaded with a U118 cell lysate, and responses were detected by IFN-gamma ELISPOT and cytokine flow cytometry assays.

PBMCs from all glioblastoma multiforme patients exhibited IFN-gamma responses to autologous tumor but not to HLA-mismatched U118 cells. Glioblastoma multiforme-specific IFN-gamma responses were primarily mediated by CD8+ T cells and represented approximately 2% of total CD8+ T cells. Additionally, all glioblastoma multiforme patients responded to autologous dendritic cells loaded with U118 lysate but not with low-grade astrocytoma cell lysates. PBMCs from four patients with other brain tumor types and one normal donor failed to respond to U118 lysate-loaded autologous dendritic cells. These data indicate that the IFN-gamma responses to U118 lysate-loaded autologous dendritic cells are glioblastoma multiforme specific. Moreover, PBMCs stimulated 1 to 2 weeks with U118 lysate-loaded dendritic cells exhibited MHC class I-restricted cytotoxicity against autologous tumor cells.

Glioblastoma multiforme patients exhibit circulating tumor-specific CD8+ T cells that recognize shared tumor antigens from the glioblastoma multiforme cell line U118. These data show that glioblastoma multiformes are immunogenic and support the development of immunotherapy trials.