Regular Article

British Journal of Cancer (1999) 80, 1420–1426. doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6690538 www.bjcancer.com
Published online 11 June 1999

Tumour cells engineered to secrete interleukin-15 augment anti-tumour immune responses in vivo

S Hazama1, T Noma2, F Wang1, N Iizuka1, Y Ogura1, K Yoshimura1, E Inoguchi3, M Hakozaki3, K Hirose3, T Suzuki1 and M Oka1

  1. 1Departments of Surgery II, Yamaguchi University School of Medicine, 1144 Kogushi, Ube, Yamaguchi 755, Japan
  2. 2Departments of Biochemistry II, Yamaguchi University School of Medicine, 1144 Kogushi, Ube, Yamaguchi 755, Japan
  3. 3Biomedical Research Institute, Kureha Chemical Industry, 3-26-2 Hyakunin-cho, Shinjuku-ku Tokyo, 169, Japan

Received 8 September 1997; Revised 16 September 1998; Accepted 12 January 1999.

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Abstract

We examined the effect of interleukin-15 (IL-15) gene transfer into tumour cells on the host's anti-tumour response. In BALB/c mice IL-15 producing Meth-A cells (Meth-A/IL-15) underwent complete rejection, in a response characterized by massive infiltration of CD4+ T-cells and neutrophils. In contrast, Meth-A cells transfected with vector alone (Meth-A/Neo) grew rapidly. Moreover, rechallenged parental cells also were rejected in association with CD8+ T-cell infiltration. However, in nude mice there was no drastic difference between Meth-A/IL-15 and Meth-A/Neo cells. These results demonstrate that IL-15-secreting tumour cells can stimulate local and systemic T-cell-dependent immunity and therefore may have a potential role in cancer therapy.

Keywords:

IL-15, tumour immunity, vaccination, in vivo animal models, gene therapy

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