Functional significance of the activation-associated receptors CD25 and CD69 on human NK-cells and NK-like T-cells

The application of autologous ex-vivo expanded cytotoxic lymphocytes to cancer patients may help to control minimal residual disease. However, the number of effector cells and the resulting antitumoral activity that can be generated in vitro are remarkably variable. Thus, we separately assessed the proliferative and cytotoxic potential of CD56+CD3− natural killer (NK) and CD56+CD3+ T-cells in relation to their expression of CD25, CD69, and CD16 in vitro. Two-week lymphocyte cultures from peripheral blood (n=51) and from G-CSF-mobilized progenitor cell harvests (n=11) were performed repeatedly from 14 women with breast cancer throughout conventional- and high-dose chemotherapy. A large proportion of CD25+ cells on day 7 of the culture predicted high expandability (r=0.69, p