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The effect of radiotherapy on NKT cells in patients with advanced head and neck cancer

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Abstract

Background

Cancer immunotherapy with NKT cells is a potential new treatment strategy for advanced head and neck cancer. NKT cell therapy is promising due to its unique anti-tumor activity and higher degree of safety compared to current therapies. Radiotherapy is indispensable as a standard treatment for advanced head and neck cancer. To elucidate the possibility of using NKT cells as an adjuvant immunotherapy with radiotherapy, we examined the effect of radiotherapy on NKT cells in patients with head and neck cancer.

Methods

The number, IFN-γ production and proliferation capacity of NKT cells were analyzed before and after 50 Gy radiation therapy in 12 patients with stage IV head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. The cytotoxic activity of NKT cells was examined in vitro.

Results

The number of NKT cells in the blood varied widely between patients. After radiation therapy, the population of CD3 T cells decreased significantly, while the NKT cell population remained stable. The number of NKT cells was the same after radiation therapy as before. IFN-γ production from NKT cells collected just after radiotherapy was impaired after stimulation with exogenous ligand, but the proliferative responses of these NKT cells was enhanced in comparison to those collected before radiation therapy. Furthermore, the proliferated NKT cells displayed a significant level of anti-tumor activity.

Conclusion

NKT cells are relatively resistant to radiation and might therefore be suitable for adjuvant immunotherapy to eradicate remnant cancer cells in patients who have undergone radiation therapy.

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Abbreviations

α-GalCer:

α-Galactosylceramide

APCs:

Antigen presenting cells

CTCAE:

Common terminology criteria for adverse events

DCs:

Dendritic cells

E/T:

Effector cell/target cell

GM-CSF:

Granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor

mAbs:

Monoclonal antibodies

NK:

Natural killer

NKT:

Natural killer T

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba, 260-8670, Japan

    Kouichi Kobayashi, Shigetoshi Horiguchi, Akira Sugimoto & Yoshitaka Okamoto

  2. Graduate School of Medicine, Toho University, Tokyo, Japan

    Yuriko Tanaka

  3. Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan

    Shouji Yamamoto

  4. Department of Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan

    Nakayama Toshinori

Authors
  1. Kouichi Kobayashi
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  2. Yuriko Tanaka
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  3. Shigetoshi Horiguchi
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  4. Shouji Yamamoto
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  5. Nakayama Toshinori
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  6. Akira Sugimoto
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  7. Yoshitaka Okamoto
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shigetoshi Horiguchi.

Additional information

K. Kobayashi and Y. Tanaka contributed equally to this work.

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Kobayashi, K., Tanaka, Y., Horiguchi, S. et al. The effect of radiotherapy on NKT cells in patients with advanced head and neck cancer. Cancer Immunol Immunother 59, 1503–1509 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00262-010-0877-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00262-010-0877-2

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