Experimental research of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes for treatment of lung cancer

Objective To explore the conditions and characterization of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes(TILs) isolation and expansion. Methods TILs were separated from tissue samples which obtained from the surgically removed tumor of 67 patients with lung cancer bymechanic and enzyme digestion and discontinuous density Ficoll-paque gradient centrifugation ways. TILs from 34 patients were incubated with 10% human type AB serum RPMI-1640 in vitro. Results The average number of TIL was 6. 84*10(6) per gram tumor tissue. The number of TIL from patients in stage I was greater than that from patients in stage III and IV , but with no difference in expanding among them. The number of TIL from patients with adenocarcinoma was similar to that with squamous cell carcinoma, but TIL isolated from adenocarcinoma expanded much more faster than that from squamous cell carcinoma. TIL expanded rapidly during 7-28 days and most of them appeared the maximum expansion within 35 days. TIL incubated from 17 of 34 patients had expanded exceeding 1*10(9), so the rate of infusion was 50%. Conclusion The results suggest TIL can be effectively separated from the tumor and expanded in vitro and these provide the basis for adoptive immunotherapy with TIL in the treatment of lung cancer. DOI: 10.3779/j.issn.1009-3419.2000.06.12