Blood Transfusion Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Blood Transfusion, including details on blood donation, blood types, leukemia.

Killing of non-Hodgkin lymphoma cells by autologous CD19 engineered T cells.

Cheadle EJ, Gilham DE, Thistlethwaite FC, Radford JA, Hawkins RE

Cancer Research UK Department of Medical Oncology, University of Manchester and Paterson Institute for Cancer Research, Christie Hospital NHS Trust, Manchester M20 4BX, UK.

Adoptive immunotherapy with tumour-specific T cells is an emerging technology that may be applicable to a broad range of cancers. However, tumours can avoid T cell-mediated attack through multiple mechanisms including downregulation of major histocompatability complex (MHC). Consequently, engineering T cells to target intact protein antigen directly, thus bypassing the need for MHC presentation, can facilitate T cell targeting of tumour cells. Peripheral blood lymphocytes from nine of nine patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) were successfully gene-modified to express a receptor consisting of a CD19 single chain variable fragment (scFv) fused to the T cell CD3zeta signalling molecule. These T cells were functionally active against the CD19(+) Raji Burkitt's lymphoma cell line. Importantly, engineered T cells from seven of nine NHL patients efficiently lysed autologous lymph node tumour biopsy cells. There was a clear correlation between levels of CD19 expression on the tumour and effective killing by the engineered T cells. For two patients with a low or absent CD19(+) cells within the biopsy, no significant killing was observed. These results demonstrate that patients with CD19(+) NHL would be suitable candidates for this form of therapy in the setting of a phase I clinical trial.

Published 21 April 2005 in Br J Haematol, 129(3): 322-32.
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