ANALYTICAL STUDY OF THE CLINICAL-RESPONSE TO 2 DISTINCT ADOPTIVE IMMUNOTHERAPIES FOR ADVANCED HEPATOCELLULAR-CARCINOMA - COMPARISON BETWEENLAK CELL AND CTL THERAPY

To evaluate the effect of two distinct adoptive immunotherapies, tumor -specific cytotoxic T-cell (CTL) therapy and lymphokine-activated kill er (LAK) cell therapy, the clinical responses of patients with stage I V primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with these therapies were studied. Of 18 patients treated with CTL, 3 had complete regressi on (CR), 2 had partial regression, and 3 had minor regression (MR). Th eir median survival was 21 months after the end of therapy, and 1 CR p atient survived for > 6 years. On the other hand, in the LAK-cell-trea ted group of eight patients, four had MR and their median survival was only 2 months, No survival was observed 27 months after the end of LA K cell therapy. These results indicate that tumor-specific CTL therapy is more effective than LAK cell therapy and that it might be a promis ing therapeutic tool for advanced HCC patients.