Curr Drug Targets. 2015 Dec 9. [Epub ahead of print]

Adoptive Immunotherapy for Leukemia with Ex Vivo Expanded T Cells.

Russell C, Cruz Y¹, Bollard CM.

Abstract

T cells are versatile effectors involved in the adaptive cell-mediated immune response. The great diversity generated in the construction of their receptors allows recognition of antigens on both malignant and pathogen-infected cells. These cells directly lyse their targets and secrete immunostimulatory cytokines that recruit and activate other cells.1 T cells can home to tumor sites, recognize tumor cells with potentially high specificity and confer long term antitumor immunity. 2 The early studies that examined the graft versus tumor effects in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation provided one of the first areas of evidence that these cells can be used to elicit a response against cancer.