IN-VITRO PROPAGATED DENDRITIC CELLS FROM PROSTATE-CANCER PATIENTS AS A COMPONENT OF PROSTATE-CANCER IMMUNOTHERAPY

T cell-mediated cancer immunotherapy requires efficient antigen-presen ting cells. Dendritic cells (DCs) are arguably the most efficient anti gen-presenting cells studied to date. Individuals with prostate cancer often undergo various therapies which may compromise their immune sys tem, including the state of their DC precursors. We report the in vitr o propagation of DCs from peripheral blood of patients with prostate c ancer, most of whom are in clinical stages D-1 or D-2 and have undergo ne radiation therapy. After 7 days in culture, the number of DCs recov ered were 20-50-fold higher than those isolated directly from peripher al blood. This number is comparable to findings of previous studies wi th healthy individuals. Cultured patients' DCs were capable of present ing tetanus toroid to autologous T cells in vitro. Furthermore, T cell s from 2 of 4 patients proliferated when cultured with their DCs and t he lysate of a human prostate cancer cell line (LNCaP), demonstrating the potential role of autologous DCs in prostate cancer immunotherapy studies. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.