[Local injection of BRM-activated killer cells into an abdominal wall tumor]

Based on the concept of living with cancer, wherein the goal is to help patients with highly advanced solid cancers maintain a high quality of life(QOL)without adverse events and drug resistance, we developed a new immunocyte therapy based on BRM-activated killer(BAK)cells, which are primarily CD56 positive lymphocytes. In a previous report, we documented the disappearance of liver metastases, as assessed by positron emission tomography-computed tomography(PET-CT), in patients with metastatic liver cancers into which BAK immunocytes had been administered via injection into the hepatic artery. Herein, upon the patient's request, we locally injected BAK lymphocytes into an abdominal tumor. In BAK therapy, 20 mL of peripheral blood are collected from a patient. Lymphocytes from this blood sample are subsequently activated and multiplied with immobilized anti-CD3 antibodies and IL-2 and are cultured for 2 weeks with E(bina)and serum-free ALys media to yield approximately 10 billion autologous lymphocytes. On the final day of incubation, the lymphocytes are treated with 1,000 units/mL of interferon(IFN)-a for 15 minutes to enhance their therapeutic killing effects. During the second week, approximately 10 billion isolated autologous lymphocytes are suspended in 200 mL of Ringer's solution and are then drip-infused into the patient over a period of 1 hour. We injected approximately 10 billion BAK lymphocytes suspended in 50 mL of Ringer's solution into a 2-cm abdominal tumor in a single 60-year-old woman under ultrasonography guidance. This procedure was repeated every 3 weeks. After the third administration, we collected a biopsy specimen and examined it using PAS staining and microscopy. The 3 separate local injections of approximately 10 billion activated autologous lymphocytes each, primarily CD56 positive cells, into the tumor led to tumor fragmentation, leaving approximately 10 lymphocytes surrounding each cancer cell. These results suggest that BAK therapy is efficacious and show that locally administered BAK lymphocytes can reach cancer tissues and effectively kill cancer cells.