Oligoclonal T cells in human cancer

Many solid tumors are characterised by the infiltration of lymphocytes and their presence has been correlated with a more favourable prognosis. These tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL), have been shown to possess specific c ytolytic reactivity towards autologous tumours, thus suggesting that tumour cells may express antigens capable of eliciting an immune response. Expres sion of such tumour-associated antigens (TAA) in combination with appropria te accessory signals would lead to the in vivo accumulation of T cells with anti-tumour specificity, Analysis of the composition of the specific T-cel l receptor (TCR) of TIL could thus provide information on the nature of the antigen(s) recognised by TIL. In this review, different aspects of the pre sence of clonal T cells in patients with cancer are discussed.