Short-term tumor cell lines from breast cancer for use as autologous tumorcell vaccines in the treatment of breast cancer

Objective: We tried to establish short-term cultures of autologous tumors f rom patients with breast carcinoma for potential use as active specific imm unotherapy (i.e., autologous vaccine) after resection of primary breast can cer, and/or for the treatment of metastases. Methods: Between 10/90 and 12/ 99 the cell biology laboratory of the Hoag Cancer Center attempted to estab lish short-term tumor cell lines from 115 breast cancer specimens from 56 p rimary breast lesions, 17 axillary nodes, 14 other lymph node/soft tissue s ites, 10 chest wall recurrences, and 6 thoracenteses of malignant pleural e ffusions. Success was defined by growth of 5 X 10(7) viable cells whose mal ignant nature and breast cancer origin was confirmed by histology of the su bmitted tissue, cell morphology and antigenic phenotyping. Variables associ ated with successful growth of short-term cell lines were examined Results: Expansion to 5 X 10(7) cells was achieved for only 8/115 samples [7%] incl uding two from chest wall recurrences, and one each from a supraclavicular node, an umbilical node, liver, omentum, and pleural fluid. Two of the succ essful cell lines were established from tissue that originally had been cry opreserved; the others were initiated from fresh tumor. The success rate wa s better from regional/distant metastases 7/55 (13%) compared to primary tu mors 1/56 (1.8%) (p = 0.063). The success rate for tumors harvested at Hoag Hospital was 4/97 (4%) compared to 4/14 from (31%) distant sites, but all but one of the tumors from a distant geographic site was a metastatic lesio n. Tumor cell lines were successfully established from metastatic lesions r anging in size from <1.0 g to 19 g. Four patients were treated with their a utologous vaccine in the setting of chemotherapy-refractory metastatic dise ase without any significant toxicity. Conclusions: We were unable to establ ish short-term cell lines for most patients with primary or metastatic brea st cancer using this methodology. However, two long-term cell lines have be en established and characterized Treatment M dth the autologous irradiated cell product was not associated with acute toxicity.