INDUCIBLE LYMPHOKINE-ACTIVATED KILLER (LAK) CELL-ACTIVITY IN THE PERIPHERAL-BLOOD OF PATIENTS WITH RELAPSED REFRACTORY NON-HODGKINS-LYMPHOMA (NHL)

Therapy with recombinant interleukin‐2 (rIL‐2) induces clinical response in a significant number of patients with refractory malignant disease. Very few patients with non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) have been treated with rIL‐2. The present study sought to determine if peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBM) from patients with relapsed/refractory non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma could be induced in vitro to generate LAK cell activity. PBM from 28 patients with relapsed/refractory NHL were incubated for 7 days in rIL‐2 to determine their ability to lyse the LAK cell sensitive Daudi cell line. The PBM from all patients were able to generate LAK activity after in vitro incubation in rIL‐2. Approximately one third of the patients' PBM samples generated less activity than activity generated in the PBM sample from normal control donors. However, two‐thirds of patient samples were able to generate activity equal to or greater than that of the controls. The degree of LAK activity generated by the patients' PBM did not correlate either with histologic subtype or amount of prior chemotherapy. The amount of LAK activity an individual generated (control or patient) tended to remain stable over time. Copyright © 1990 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd