In vivo and in vitro synergistic antitumor effect of interleukin-2-cultured tumor-bearer spleen cells and immune fresh spleen cells.

The synergistic antitumor effect of interleukin-2(IL-2)-cultured tumor-bearer spleen cells (cultured lymphocytes) and immune fresh spleen cells was examined. Tumor-bearer cultured lymphocytes were obtained by culturing BALB/c spleen cells from syngeneic MOPC104E-tumor-bearing mice for 11 days with crude IL-2 and a soluble tumor extract. These cultured lymphocytes had weak antitumor activity when transferred i.p. into tumor-bearing mice that had been inoculated i.p. with 10(5) tumor cells 5 days previously. Immune fresh spleen cells, obtained from mice in complete remission after the treatment with cyclophosphamide, also had weak antitumor activity when transferred at the same schedule. The cultured cells and the fresh cells, mixed together before transfer, significantly augmented the therapeutic effect. At least 1 x 10(7) tumor-bearer cultured lymphocytes and 4 x 10(7) immune cells were needed for the synergistic effect. A tumor-specific combination was needed for both cultured and fresh cells. The effective subpopulation of tumor-bearer cultured lymphocytes was a cytotoxic one from an Lyt2+ precursor, and that of the immune fresh spleen cells was noncytotoxic, Lyt1+ and Lyt2+ T-cells. A similar synergistic effect was also observed during in vitro coculture of tumor-bearer and immune cells. Cytotoxicity, as assessed by the 51Cr-release test, of tumor-bearer IL-2-cultured lymphocytes was maintained most effectively after 3 or 4 days of culture without IL-2 when the lymphocytes were cocultured with immune fresh spleen cells and tumor cells.