Immunotherapy: Open Access
Open Access

Abstract

T Cell-Mediated Immunotherapy Boosts Clinical Efficacy in the Treatment

Hua Zhang, Yun-hong Huang, Yuan Yang, Qiang-xing Zeng, Xing-nan Zeng, Feng Gou, De-zhuang Hu, Jing-ling Tang, Jin Xiu and Ping-sheng Hu

To investigate the anti-tumor efficacy and safety of adoptive cell therapy for the treatment of relapsed, refractory or chemotherapy-resistant lymphoma, we conducted a pilot clinical study using autologous anti-CD3 expanded T cells derived from patients with the diseases. A total of 12 patients, who were pathologically diagnosed with malignant lymphoma at various stages were enrolled in the study. PBMCs from the immunotherapy group were collected and expanded by anti-CD3 in the presence of IFNγ and IL2. The expanded T cells were then infused back to the patients, who were assessed for changes in lymphocyte subgroups, tumor-related biological parameters, imaging characteristics, and the condition of remission and survival. The overall response rate (ORR) to the therapy was 66.7% of the treated patients achieving the complete response (CR) and partial response (PR), with a median progression-free survival (PFS) of 43 months and median overall survival (OS) of 54 months separately. No severe toxicity or side effects were observed. Also, we found new factors influencing the clinical outcomes. The higher percentages of CD4+ T cells and CD4+HLA DR+ T cells, but the lower CD8+HLA DR+ T cells in the blood was positively correlated to the therapeutic outcomes achieving CR as compared to the patients still having stable disease (SD) or partial disease (PD). Précis: The early form of adoptive T cell therapy still provides a valuable option in the treatment of relapsed, refractory, or chemotherapy-resistant lymphoma by improving progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS).