Cytokine-induced Killer Cells in Combination With Transcatheter Arterial Chemoembolization and Radiofrequency Ablation for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients

Abstract

This study evaluated the clinical efficacy of autologous cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cell transfusion in combination with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and radiofrequency ablation (RFA), compared to sequential therapy with TACE and RFA, for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We retrospectively studied 2 groups of HCC patients: 85 patients in the TACE+RFA+CIK group were treated with adoptive autologous CIK cell transfusion in combination with minimally invasive therapy, 89 patients in the TACE+RFA group were treated with minimally invasive therapy alone. The overall response rate was 76.5% in the TACE+RFA+CIK group and 79.8% in the TACE+RFA group. The disease control rate was higher in the TACE+RFA+CIK group than that in the TACE+RFA group (95.3% vs. 88.8%), but the difference was not significant (P=0.113). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the patients in the TACE+RFA+CIK group had significantly longer overall survival (56 vs. 31 mo, P=0.001) and progression-free survival (17 vs. 10 mo, P=0.001) than those in the TACE+RFA group. No severe side effects occurred in the CIK cell transfusion patients. In conclusion, CIK cell immunotherapy may be a valuable therapeutic strategy to prevent recurrence and metastasis in HCC patients after TACE and RFA, and to improve patient prognosis and quality of life. Combined CIK immunotherapy and minimally invasive therapies represent a safe, potential treatment modality for HCC. However, because patient assignment to the 2 treatments was not randomized, any conclusions concerning improvements in survival must be interpreted with great caution.

Effect of cytokine-induced killer cells on immune function in patients with lung cancer

“…Of these, 1 patient with lymphoma experienced complete remission, while 6 patients exhibited disease progression, and 3 did not experience any alteration on their condition (5,11). Other clinical studies subsequently confirmed the safety and benefits of CIK cell-based therapy, alongside initial clinical activity (12,13).…”

“…Furthermore, CIK cells are able to regulate cellular immune functions in patients with cancer (35,36). The application of CIK cells as adoptive immunotherapy is important in the treatment of cancer, since several clinical studies have confirmed the safety of CIK therapy for patients (12,13). Numerous clinical studies have been recently performed, whereby adjuvant infusions of CIK cells following surgical resection demonstrated a significant increase in survival time (43,44).…”

Cytokine induced killer cell immunotherapy in cancer treatment: from bench to bedside

“…Wang et al (2013) showed that the disease control rate was 67.7% in patients transfused with CIK cells (Wang et al, 2013). Similarly, in HCC patients, Huang et al (2013) showed that CIK cell immunotherapy was valuable therapeutic strategy to prevent recurrence and metastasis in HCC patients after TACE and RFA (Huang et al, 2013). Effects of CIK cell transfusion caused a significant increased of CD3+, CD4+, CD4+CD8+ and CD3+CD4+ T cells , improved the immunological status in HCC patients (Shi et al, 2004), reduce the level of serum AFP and anti-HBV and decrease the 1-year recurrence rate of patients with HCC after curative TACE plus RFA (Pan et al, 2010).…”

Immunotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma: From basic research to clinical use

“…Recently, escalating proof from clinical trials demonstrated that CIK cells adoptive transfer demonstrated a substantial anti-tumor effect in patients with solid tumors and hematological malignancies [92][93][94] . Some reports showed that CIK adjuvant immunotherapy significantly improved the outcomes of HCC patients [95][96][97][98][99][100][101] . In these studies, CIK cell transfusion reduced the relapse rate of HCC in patients after TACE and RFA therapy and prolonged the disease-free survival and OS for HCC patients after radical resection or TACE.…”