I. Introduction of CIK cell biotherapy
Currently, tumor biotherapy is the fourth major tumor treatment mode after the traditional means such as surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Traditional treatments focus on the biological characteristics of tumor itself, such as using surgery and radiotherapy to control tumor locally, and chemotherapy to control recurrence and distant metastasis. However, surgery cannot solve the problem of tumor cell spread and metastasis, while radiotherapy and chemotherapy are a “double-edged sword”, which can kill tumor cells and damage normal cells, especially the immune and hematopoietic functions of the body to a certain extent.
In recent years, with the extensive development of multidisciplinary treatment for tumors, cellular immunotherapy for tumors has become more and more popular among patients and their families, and it plays an important role in prolonging the survival time of patients with tumors, improving their survival quality and reducing the recurrence rate. CIK cellular immunotherapy is the first choice of the latest generation of anti-tumor cellular immunotherapy, which mainly activates the body’s immune cells for the purpose of killing tumors and restoring the body’s immune homeostasis.
As the latest biotechnology and anti-cancer treatment method in the 21st century, biological anti-cancer technology is based on the frontier sciences of modern molecular biology, cell biology and molecular immunology, and is complementary to the three conventional therapies of surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy to significantly improve the efficacy of cancer treatment, further eliminate cancer cells and cure tumors. Compared with surgery and radiotherapy, the efficacy of single biological therapy is not easy to evaluate, and the reduction of tumor load will not be obvious, but the overall condition of the body will be improved, and it is better to cooperate with other therapies for better efficacy. There are few contraindications, but it should be used with caution for patients with fever or signs of recent infection and patients with immune deficiency.
II. Mechanism of CIK tumor killing
Cytokine induced killer (CIK) is a T lymphocyte obtained from umbilical cord blood or peripheral blood mononuclear cells under in vitro sterile environmental conditions after induction of multiple cytokine stimuli such as γ-interferon, CD3McAb, interleukin-2, etc. After about two weeks of culture expansion, the number of cells can be expanded thousands of times. The CD3+ and CD56+ NKT cells generally account for more than 20% of the expanded T lymphocytes, which are the strongest group of CIK cells in terms of anti-tumor activity, combining the strong anti-tumor activity of T lymphocytes and the non-MHC-restricted tumor-killing advantages of NK cells. CIK cells have strong tumor killing effect on chemotherapy-resistant tumor cells. The mechanism of tumor killing is.
(1) It is mainly through the secretion of perforin and granzyme to kill tumor cells directly.
② Indirect killing of tumor cells by secreting various cytokines including interferon, tumor necrosis factor, interleukin-2, etc.
(③CIK cells can also express FasL to induce apoptosis of tumor cells through the Fas L-Fas pathway. In addition, CIK cells can also activate the body’s immune system and improve the body’s immune function after transfusion back.
Third, the characteristics of CIK cell therapy
1, CIK cells selectively kill tumor cells, while there is no toxicity to normal cells.
2, CIK cells have a wide spectrum of tumor killing, high efficiency, and are also sensitive to chemotherapy-resistant tumors.
3, CIK cells have strong and long-lasting value-added ability and immunocidal activity.
4, CIK cells can produce a large number of endogenous cytokines in the body after transfusion, which can reduce a series of serious side effects caused by the application of large doses of exogenous cytokines.
5.CIK cell therapy has good effect on controlling and eliminating chest and ascites, and killing cancer cells in chest and ascites. It can also play a positive role in improving the quality of life and prolonging the life of patients with mid- to late-stage tumors.
6.CIK cell transfusion back therapy can also be used for the treatment of chronic migratory viral infections.
7, CIK cell therapy side effects are very small, generally self-limiting hypothermia (about 37.5 ℃).
8. CIK cells can not only produce strong killing activity on tumor cells, but also improve the immune ability of the body, thus exerting a dual effect on tumor treatment.
Indications for CIK cell therapy
1.Early, middle and late stage malignant solid tumors and leukemia.
2. Some tumor patients who are temporarily not suitable for surgery, intervention or other treatments.
V. Role of CIK cell immunotherapy
1.Improve the quality of life, increase appetite, improve sleep and weight gain;
2.Inhibit tumor recurrence and metastasis;
3.Protect the immune function of the body;
4.After CIK treatment, the value of alpha-fetoprotein decreased and liver function improved in some liver cancer patients;
5.The number of anti-tumor effector cells and anti-tumor cytokines in blood are improved.
In conclusion, tumor is a systemic disease rather than a local lesion, which is only manifested in a certain local organ. Multidisciplinary comprehensive treatment has been widely used in clinical practice, and chemotherapy supplemented by traditional Chinese medicine, minimally invasive and immunotherapy are the main methods for the treatment of middle and late stage tumors. As the name suggests, cellular biotherapy is an effective method to identify and destroy abnormal cells and tumor cells without side effects, and it can be used during the interval between surgery and radiotherapy.
At present, biological therapy is recognized by medical experts both internationally and domestically, but the efficacy of biological therapy is different from that of surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. It is less effective in reducing tumor load, but it has certain effect on the inhibition of micro metastases. If you choose biological therapy, it is better to cooperate with other treatments (TCM, targeted therapy, radiotherapy, etc.), so that the effect will be better.