Exploratory experiments are conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of developing large-scale cultivation methods for producing "lymphokine activated killer cells" (LAKs). Recent clinical trials have shown that these types of cells have strong anti-tumor activity. Adoptive cellular immunotherapy (ACI) treatments for cancer involve the administration of such cells to aptients to induce tumor regression. One ACI method involves the extrocorporeal treatment of a patient's own lymphocytes obtained by leukapheresis with the lymphokine interleukin-2. These cells are then reinfused back into the patient. Additional interleukin-2 is also administered to the patient. A series of experiments will be conducted to find alternative methods for activating lymphocytes, to scale-up methods for producing LAKs, and to manipulate cell-culturing conditions.
