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Natural killer cells in children with acute leukemia. The effect of interleukin‐2
Author(s) -
Mageed Aly Abdel,
Findley Harry W.,
Franco Carlos,
Singhapakdi Suapsan,
Alvarado Carlos,
Chan Wing C.,
Ragab Abdelsalam H.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(19871215)60:12<2913::aid-cncr2820601212>3.0.co;2-j
Subject(s) - k562 cells , cytotoxicity , medicine , peripheral blood mononuclear cell , immunology , leukemia , immune system , natural killer cell , interleukin 12 , interleukin 2 , stimulation , lymphokine activated killer cell , interleukin 21 , cytotoxic t cell , biology , in vitro , t cell , biochemistry
The purpose of this study was to determine (1) the number and activity of natural killer (NK) cells in children with acute leukemia at different stages of their disease; and (2) the effect of interleukin‐2 (IL‐2) in enhancing NK activity of these patients' cells. The mean percentage of Leu 11+ NK cells in patients at diagnosis (5% of peripheral blood (PB) mononuclear cells) was significantly lower than for patients on maintenance (23%), post‐treatment (21%) and for normal children (20%). The mean PB NK cell cytotoxicity for patients at diagnosis (16% lysis versus K562) and during maintenance (20%) was significantly lower than for post‐treatment (41%) and normal controls (40%). After NK cells were incubated for 5 days with IL‐2, NK cells from 82% (36/44) of patients showed enhanced cytotoxicity toward K562 and several acute leukemia cell lines as well as toward autologous leukemic cells. Cytotoxicity toward autologous cells was very low (0% to 5%, 16 hour assay) before IL‐2 stimulation, and significantly increased (23% to 69%) after stimulation, suggesting that IL‐2 may be a useful agent for enhancing the antileukemic immune response.