Prospective phase II study of post-surgical adjuvant chemo-immunotherapy using autologous dendritic cells and activated killer cells from tissue culture of tumor-draining lymph nodes in primary lung cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: The efficacy and toxicity of adjuvant chemo-immunotherapy using dendritic cells and activated killer cells are not clear in post-surgical primary lung cancer patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Pathologically diagnosed N2 lung cancer patients were selected for postsurgical adjuvant chemo-immunotherapy. The activated killer cells and dendritic cells (AKT-DC) obtained from tissue cultures of tumor-draining lymph nodes (TDLN) or from TDLN co-cultured with peripheral blood lymphocytes (TDLN-Pb) were used for the adoptive transfer of immunotherapy. The patients received 4 courses of chemotherapy along with immunotherapy every 2 months for 2 years.
RESULTS: There were 31 N2 patients eligible for the study. Three cases were excluded because of refusal by the patients after 1-2 courses of immunotherapy. For the 28 cases treated, a total of 313 courses of immunotherapy were administered. The main toxicities were fever (78.0%), chill (83.4%), fatigue (23.0%) and nausea (17.0%) on the day of cell transfer. The 2- and 5-year survival rates were 88.9 % (95.9-81.9; 95% confidence interval, C.I.) and 52.9% (76.4-29.4; C.I.).
CONCLUSION: Adoptive transfer of activated killer cells and dendritic cells from the tumor-draining lymph nodes of primary lung cancer patients is feasible and safe, and a large-scale multi-institutional study is necessary for evaluation of the efficacy of this treatment.