Immunological reconstitution after high-dose chemotherapy and autologous blood stem cell transplantation for advanced ovarian cancer.

We evaluated the immunological reconstitution of patients who underwent high-dose chemotherapy and autologous blood stem cell transplantation (ABSCT) for advanced ovarian cancer. Sixty days after transplantation a complete reconstitution of lymphocytes and of the CD3, CD4, CD8, CD19, and CD16/56 subsets was observed in this series. A significant increase in the count of interleukin-2 receptor expressing lymphocyte (CD25) was found on day +60 after transplantation compared to that obtained at diagnosis and before transplantation. A significantly higher lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) precursor activity was seen on day +60 compared to the values obtained at diagnosis and before transplantation while natural killer activity did not show any significant variation. We conclude that ABSCT gives prompt and complete immunohaematopoietic reconstitution after high-dose treatment. Moreover, our data support the feasibility of interleukin-2/LAK therapy as consolidative therapy after ABSCT.