Relationship between immunological parameters and survival of patients with liver metastases from breast cancer given immuno-chemotherapy

We treated 33 patients with liver metastases from breast cancer by immuno-chemotherapy including adoptive cell transfer between 1987 and 1992. In this study, we examined the change of immunological parameters in the peripheral blood lymphocytes and interleukin-2 (IL-2)-cultured lymphocytes, in primary vs. metastatic breast cancer patients and before vs. after treatment. Moreover, we examined their correlation with therapeutic response and survival after treatment. The immunological parameters used werein vitro natural killer cell activity (% lysis of K562),in vitro autologous tumor-killing activity (% lysis against autologous freshly isolated tumor cells), and proliferation of lymphocytes stimulated with IL-2 and autologous sonicated tumor extract antigen in mixed culture (IL-2-enhanced MLTR). When compared with primary breast cancer patients, patients with liver metastases showed a significant decrease in % lysis of K562 and autologous tumor cells. After treatment, the stimulation index in IL-2-enhanced MLTR increased significantly from the pretreatment level and correlated with survival after treatment. Moreover, non-specific immunological parameters (performance status, lymphocyte count, and transferred cell count and proliferation rate of cultured lymphocytes) were significantly associated with response and prognosis.