Efficient generation of highly immunocompetent dendritic cells from peripheral blood of patients with hepatitis C virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma

- We evaluated the procedures to induce DCs from HCC patients.
- T-cell stimulatory activity of DCs in MLR was significantly lower in HCC patients.
- The clinically approved OK-432 is a candidate for optimal DC preparation.

Background & aimsImmunotherapy using dendritic cells (DCs) is a promising cancer therapy. The success of this therapy depends on the function of induced DCs. However, there has been no consensus on optimal conditions for DC preparation in vitro for immunotherapy of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. To address relevant issues, we evaluated the procedures to induce DCs that efficiently function in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related HCC.MethodsWe studied immunological data from 14 HCC patients. The DC preparation and the surface markers were assessed by flow cytometric analysis. Four different additional activation stimuli (Method I, medium alone; Method II, with OK-432; Method III, with IL-1β + IL-6 + TNF-α; Method IV, with IL-1β + IL-6 + TNF-α + PGE2) were tested and the functions of DCs were confirmed by examination of the ability of phagocytosis, cytokine production and allogeneic mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR).ResultsThe numbers of DCs induced and their cytokine production ability were not different between healthy controls and HCC patients. T-cell stimulatory activity of DCs in MLR was significantly lower in HCC patients than in healthy controls. The maturation of DCs with OK-432 boosted production of cytokines and chemokines, such as IL-2, IL-12p70, IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-13 and MIP1α, and restored T-cell stimulatory activity of DCs in MLR.ConclusionsThe clinically approved compound OK-432 is a candidate for highly immunocompetent DC preparation and may be considered as a key drug for immunotherapy of HCV-related HCC patients.