Phorbol dibutyrate plus ionomycin improves the generation of cytotoxic T cells from draining lymph nodes of patients with advanced head and neck surgery

Fifty-one cervical nodes from 19 patients with advanced head and neck cancer were stimulated with phorbol dibutyrate and ionomycin (PDBu+Io) to determine the effect of such stimulation on the generation of cytotoxic T cells and whether this stimulation could bypass the need for autologous tumor stimlation. Lymphocytes stimulated with PDBu+Io demonstrated a sixfold greater in vitro expansion and significantly increased DNA synthesis