Immunization of cancer patients using autologous cancer cells modified by insertion of the gene for interleukin-2.

When tumor is resected from patients as part of the natural course of their treatment, an attempt will be made to establish a tissue culture line of the tumor. The gene coding for interleukin-2 will be introduced into these tumor cells and the integration and expression of this gene will be tested. Patients will become eligible for this study only if they develop metastatic cancer that has failed all standard effective treatment and have no other effective treatment options available to them. Tumor cells will be injected intradermally and subcutaneously into the thigh of these patients. The amount of tumor injected will be less than 1/50th the total tumor burden of that patient. In previous studies we have shown that these gene modified tumor cells are more immunogenic than the native unaltered tumor. Attempts will then be made to grow immune lymphocytes either from the tumor site or from the draining lymph nodes of these patients in order to use these lymphocytes for adoptive immunotherapy as detailed in previous protocols. The direct effect of the immunization with these immunogenic tumor cells will also be measured by assessing the impact on established tumor at other sites. Fifty patients receiving tumor inoculation will be included in this study.