Induction of Lymphokine-Activated Killer Cells from Human Leukemic T Cells by Interleukin-2

When cultured with interleukin-2 (IL-2), human peripheral blood lymphocytes acquire the ability to lyse in a selective manner a wide range of tumor cells. Such lymphokine-activated killer cells (LAK cells) appear to develop from phenotypically quite heterogenous precursors, but in short-term cultures predominantly from natural killer cells [4]. This phenomenon has attracted great interest as a promising approach to cancer therapy. Clinical trials have indicated that adoptive immunotherapy with autologous LAK cells along with IL-2 in humans may be effective in reducing established metastatic cancer of several histological forms [6]. The available data relate preferentially to experimental and clinical studies of solid tumors, while only little is known about the effect of LAK cells against human leukemia. We report here on our studies aimed at inducing LAK cells in vitro among the peripheral lymphoid cells from childhood T-cell leukemia. Our conclusion is that LAK cells under the action of IL-2 can develop from leukemic T cells and may be cytolytic against the autologous leukemic cells.