Adoptive Immunotherapy of Cancer

Cellular adoptive therapy (CAT) of cancer has begun to evolve as a new modality of treatment for metastatic disease. The initial enthusiasm for CAT has now abated in view of the evidence that only about one-third of patients with metastatic melanoma or renal cell carcinoma treated with CAT have achieved objective responses. Nevertheless, studies from animal models of tumour metastasis, and more recent clinical trials in which selected populations of activated lymphocytes instead of lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells are being used for therapy, indicate that CAT may be very effective in eliminating established metastases and inducing long term responses in patients unresponsive to conventional therapies.