Lymphotoxin (LT) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) are cytokines that probably play a role in several autoimmune diseases. In this report, we describe the detection, in normal nonimmune serum, of naturally occurring antibodies that bind to recombinant human LT and TNF. The naturally occurring antibodies that bind to LT and TNF could explain why normal immunoglobulin is effective therapy in idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and Kawasaki syndrome.

We examined the in vitro sensitivity of continuous ovarian cancer cells to lymphokine-activated killer T cells (T-LAK) alone or in combination with cytokines. Lymphocyte viability in T-LAK cultures generated from normal donors and ovarian cancer patients declined in the first 2 to 4 days; however, the remaining cells in these cultures maintained a constant rate of proliferation for long periods in vitro. These cells became 90-95% CD3+ TCR+ -alpha/beta T-cells after 7-10 days in culture. The T-LAK cells from normal donors and cancer patients expressed an equal ability to induce lysis of a panel of human target cells (NK-sensitive K562, NK-insensitive RAJI, and two human ovarian tumor lines, SKOV-3 and OVCAR-3), demonstrating that they are nongenetically restricted killers. Preincubation of either the effector or target cells with tumor necrosis factor or interferon-gamma or addition of these cytokines directly to cytolytic assays did not alter the degree of cell lysis in vitro. This is a method for generating large numbers of autologous, cytolytically active T-LAK cells from the blood of ovarian cancer patients that could be employed in adoptive intraperitoneal immunotherapy.

Nongenetically restricted T cells may be important host effector cells in women with ovarian cancer receiving intraperitoneal (ip) IL-2 therapy. We developed an in vitro technique to produce murine lymphokine-activated killer T cells. Murine splenocytes were cultured in the presence of 1000 U/ml IL-2 for 10 to 15 days. Phenotypical analysis showed 95% of total cells to express the pan T phenotype Thy 1.2 and no NK cell phenotypes by Day 7 in culture. These cells were labeled with 51Cr and their trafficking pattern after ip administration into normal and M5067 tumor bearing mice was examined. Various organs and tissues were collected at different timepoints and monitored for radioactivity. Within 4 hr., about 60% of the counts were associated with the bowel, peritoneum, and omentum of both normal and tumor bearing mice. About 15% of counts were associated with the blood, lung, kidney, spleen, and liver of both normal and tumor bearing mice.