Cytotoxicity of interleukin 2-activated lymphocytes for leukemia and lymphoma cells

Studies were undertaken to determine whether leukemia and lymphoma cells would be lysed by autologous and allogeneic lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from patients and normal donors were cultured for five days, 2 weeks, and 4 weeks with medium containing 2,500 units of recombinant interleukin 2 (IL-2) per mL, and their cytotoxicity was assayed by a five-hour 51Cr-release test. Of primary tumors isolated from patients with acute nonlymphoblastic leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, tumors of 37 out of 40 patients tested were shown to be susceptible to normal donors' LAK, and tumors of 18 of 20 patients tested were shown to be susceptible to autologous LAK. LAK cultured for longer periods showed a tendency to have lower cytotoxicity. LAK had also low, but significant, levels of cytotoxicity for nonmalignant target cells. Because PBMC expanded in IL-2-containing medium consisted mainly of OKT3-positive pan T cells, OKT8-positive suppressor/cytotoxic cells, and Leu-11-positive natural killer (NK) cells, and treatment with OKT3 and Leu-11 monoclonal antibodies (mAb) reduced LAK activity for autologous and allogeneic tumor cells, both T and NK cells appeared to be effector cells for LAK activity. Mechanisms of target-cell recognition in the LAK system seem to be different from those in alloreactive cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) based on the results that, while cytotoxicity of alloreactive CTL was inhibited by the treatment of effector cells with mAb, OKT3, and OKT8, and by the treatment of target cells with a mAb that reacts with HLA class I antigen, LAK activity was not inhibited by the above treatment. When chromosomes of IL-2-expanded PBMC in nine patients and two normal individuals were analyzed, PBMC from one patient showed chromosomes of clonal abnormalities, and PBMC from five donors showed those of nonclonal abnormalities.