ALL STEM CELLS

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11022927

Adoptive immunotherapy to lower postsurgical recurrence rates of hepatocellular carcinoma: a randomised trial.

Background
Postsurgical recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is frequent and fatal. Adoptive immunotherapy is active against HCC. We assessed whether postoperative immunotherapy could lower the frequency of recurrence.
Methods
Between 1992 and 1995, we did a randomised trial in which 150 patients who had undergone curative resection for HCC were assigned adoptive immunotherapy (n=76) or no adjuvant treatment (n=74). Autologous lymphocytes activated vitro with recombinant interleukin-2 and antibody to CD3 were infused five times during the first 6 months. Primary endpoints were time to first recurrence and recurrence-free survival and analyses were by intention to treat.