Clinical Studies Applying Cytokine-Induced Killer Cells for the Treatment of Gastrointestinal Tumors

Abstract

Tumors of the gastrointestinal system represent a significant share of solid tumors worldwide. Despite the advances in diagnosis and treatment, the prognosis of gastrointestinal tumors is still very poor and improved therapies are indispensable. Cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells are feasible for an immunotherapeutic approach as they are easily available and have an advantageous biologic profile; they are rapidly proliferating and their high cytotoxicity is non-MHC-restricted. We summarize and discuss twenty recent clinical studies applying CIK cells for the treatment of gastric, pancreatic, hepatocellular, and colorectal cancer. Autologous CIK cells were transfused intravenously, intraperitoneally, or via the common hepatic artery. In all studies side effects and toxicity of CIK cell therapy were mild and easily controllable. The combination of CIK cell therapy with conventional adjuvant or palliative therapies was superior to the standard therapy alone, indicating the benefit of CIK cell therapy for cancer patients. Thus, CIK cells represent a promising immunotherapy for the treatment of gastrointestinal tumors. The optimal treatment schedule and ideal combination with conventional therapies should be evaluated in further clinical studies.

Influence of autologous dendritic cells on cytokine-induced killer cell proliferation, cell phenotype and antitumor activity in vitro

“…CIK cells are a subset of natural killer T lymphocytes (NKTs) that are type II NKT cells (20) with enhanced tumor cell lytic activity (21), higher proliferation rate (22), and relatively lower toxicity (23). Due to these characteristics, CIKs are extensively used in antitumor therapy in clinics (24)(25)(26). In this study, the influence of DCs on CIKs was analyzed.…”

Adoptive Immunotherapy for Small Cell Lung Cancer by Expanded Activated Autologous Lymphocytes: a Retrospective Clinical Analysis

“…It was found that CD3 + and CD3 + CD8 + T lymphocytes represented more than 90% and 60% of the total EAAL cells, respectively, while the proportions of CD3 + CD4 + and CD3−CD16 + /CD56 + NK cells were relatively lower. The proportions of CD8 + CD28 + cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) and CD3+CD16+/CD56+ T lymphocytes, which are essential effector cells and play an important role in anti-tumor immunity Jakel et al, 2014;, and which account for (38.38±11.15)% and (34.48±16.41)%, respectively, were also very high in EAAL cells. Therefore, the high content described above for these cell types in EAAL may result in increased antitumor immunity.…”

Cytokine induced killer cell immunotherapy in cancer treatment: from bench to bedside

“…CIK cells represent a promising immunotherapy for the treatment of gastrointestinal tumors (Jakel et al, 2014). Adjuvant transfusion of CIK cells prolongs DFS in patients with colorectal cancer from 29.35 ± 6.39 % in control without CIK cells to 59.65 ± 24.80 % with CIK transfusion, and no immediate adverse reactions to the CIK cell transfusions (Zhu et al, 2013).…”