Cytotoxic Effects of CTLs Activated by DCs to Kill Autologous Breast Cancer Cells

Objective To investigate T cell-mediated antitumor effects induced by DCs pulsed with tumor lysates in patients with breast cancer in vitro. Methods CTLs were activated by DCs pulsed with autologous breast cancer cell lysates.The concentration of IFN-γ and IL-12 were measured by ELISA.The specific cytolytic activity of CTLs was assessed by LDH assay. Results The results showed that IFN-γ and IL-12 were higher in the autologous breast cancer cell lysates pulsed DCs group than those in the unpulsed DCs group,PBMC group and Breast cancer lysate group (P<0.05）.The CTLs stimulated by the autologous breast cancer cell lysates pulsed DCs had much higher cytotoxicity to autologous breast cancer cells,as compared with MCF-7 and HT-29 cells (P<0.01).Also higher than other three groups just like the level of IFN-γ and IL-12(P<0.01). Conclusion The results indicated that tumor lysates-pulsed DCs could stimulate specific CTLs and could kill autologous tumor cells in patients with advanced breast cancer in vitro.Autologous tumor antigen-pulsed DC-based vaccinations may be appropriate for the treatment of residual and/or chemotherapy-resistant breast cancer,and may be as standard salvage treatment modalities.