Based on the concept of living with
cancer, wherein the goal is to help patients with highly advanced solid
cancers maintain a high quality of life(QOL)without adverse events and drug resistance, we developed a new immunocyte
therapy based on BRM-activated killer(BAK)cells, which are primarily CD56 positive lymphocytes. In a previous report, we documented the disappearance of liver
metastases, as assessed by positron emission tomography-computed tomography(PET-CT), in patients with metastatic
liver cancers into which BAK immunocytes had been administered via injection into the hepatic artery. Herein, upon the patient's request, we locally injected BAK lymphocytes into an abdominal
tumor. In BAK
therapy, 20 mL of peripheral blood are collected from a patient. Lymphocytes from this blood sample are subsequently activated and multiplied with immobilized anti-CD3
antibodies and
IL-2 and are cultured for 2 weeks with E(bina)and serum-free ALys media to yield approximately 10 billion autologous lymphocytes. On the final day of incubation, the lymphocytes are treated with 1,000 units/mL of
interferon(IFN)-a for 15 minutes to enhance their therapeutic killing effects. During the second week, approximately 10 billion isolated autologous lymphocytes are suspended in 200 mL of
Ringer's solution and are then drip-infused into the patient over a period of 1 hour. We injected approximately 10 billion BAK lymphocytes suspended in 50 mL of
Ringer's solution into a 2-cm abdominal
tumor in a single 60-year-old woman under ultrasonography guidance. This procedure was repeated every 3 weeks. After the third administration, we collected a biopsy specimen and examined it using PAS staining and microscopy. The 3 separate local
injections of approximately 10 billion activated autologous lymphocytes each, primarily CD56 positive cells, into the
tumor led to
tumor fragmentation, leaving approximately 10 lymphocytes surrounding each
cancer cell. These results suggest that BAK
therapy is efficacious and show that locally administered BAK lymphocytes can reach
cancer tissues and effectively kill
cancer cells.