About Tumor Biotherapy

Biological therapy of tumor is an old but young therapy, which is a new force in biological therapy of tumor – Relay Cellular Immunotherapy (RCIT). For more than a thousand years, there have been rules in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to treat cancer by using traditional Chinese medicines, such as “supporting justice and dispelling evil spirits” and “activating blood circulation and removing blood stasis”. The establishment of modern tumor immunotherapy began with the discovery of animal tumor-specific transplantation antigens in 1953 – the birth of tumor immunology. In the mid-1980s, along with the development of modern molecular biology and bioengineering technology, the emergence of recombinant cytokines, and the first case of autologous CTL over-immunotherapy in a tumor patient, Rosenberg, Oldham, etc. put forward the concept of BRM, which established the theory and technology of modern tumor biotherapy, and became the fourth mode of cancer treatment following the three major conventional treatments: surgical treatment of tumors, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. It has become the fourth mode of tumor treatment after the three conventional treatments of tumor surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy, and set up a new milestone of tumor biotherapy. Biotherapy is categorized into non-cellular therapy and cell therapy. Non-cellular therapy includes antibody, peptide (or protein) vaccine, gene vaccine, gene therapy, etc. Cell therapy is mainly divided into overcellular immunotherapy, tumor cell vaccine, dendritic cell vaccine and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Jing Liang, Department of Tumor Chemotherapy, Thousand Buddha Mountain Hospital, Shandong Province Relay cellular immunotherapy – including the familiar LAK and TIL, as well as the CIK therapy that has been gradually developed in recent years. Tumor immunity is dominated by cellular immunity, and obtaining sufficient cell number and effector cells with specific killing function is the main aspect of relay cell culture technology that current researchers need to break through. Infusing patients with a large number of effective tumor-killing cells is essential for the efficacy of overdose cell therapy. From LAK to TIL to CIK, the introduction of factors such as IL-2 and IFN-γ has greatly increased the multiplicity of effector cells, but the number of cells obtained that can further increase the clinical therapeutic efficacy is still unsatisfactory. However, the number of cells that can further improve the clinical therapeutic efficiency is still unsatisfactory. At present, most of the relay cell culture methods that are being applied by various units in China, such as CIK, have an in vitro expansion rate of less than 100-fold at the time of 2 weeks of culture. The oncology laboratory of the Department of Oncology, Qianfoshan Hospital, Shandong Province, has taken the lead in establishing a GMP standard biological laboratory in provincial hospitals of Shandong Province since 2006, and has successively carried out cellular immunotherapy treatments such as CD3AK, CIKDC-CIK, etc., and is now the main committee of Shandong Province’s oncology biotherapy.Advantages of CIK cell therapy for the treatment of tumors are as follows: 1) CIK cells selectively kill tumor cells and, in the case of non-transformed cells, the CIK cells selectively kill tumor cells and have no toxicity to untransformed cells, lectin-induced lymphoblastoid cells and normal cells. ② CIK cells have a broad-spectrum tumor-killing effect and are adapted to the treatment of intermediate and advanced malignant tumors. It is effective in kidney cancer, gastrointestinal tract cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, liver cancer, glioma, prostate cancer, uterine cancer and so on. In addition, preoperative application of tumor can confine the tumor and reduce intraoperative bleeding. CIK cell proliferation ability is much better than LAK and TIL cells, and can reach the number of anti-tumor effector cells required by the clinic after short-term culture.CIK cell proliferation ability and immune activity are dozens of times stronger than LAK and TIL cells, and maintain anti-tumor activity persistently. ④CIK cells can also be applied to immunocompromised patients, such as patients with liver cirrhosis.