Proliferation profile and anti-tumor effects of CIK cells against gastric cancer cell lines SGC-7901 in vitro

OBJECTIVE: To observe the proliferation ability of CIK (cytokine-induced killer) cells from healthy donor and decide the suitable time for clinical application, and to investigate the anti-tumor effects against gastric cancer cell lines SGC-7901 in vitro. METHODS: Mononuclear cells were isolated from peripheral blood with ficoll solution. CIK cells from PBMC were induced with different cytokines, the proliferation ability of CIK cells was measured by calculation in different culturing time, and the phenotype of CIK cells was analyzed by a flow cytometer. Compared with 5-FU, the antitumor cytotoxicity of CIK cells was measured by MTT assay, and the anti-tumor effects of CIK cells combined with 5-FU were investigated. RESULTS: CIK cells possessed strong proliferate ability with over 124-flod expansion after 20 days culture, CD3+ CD56+ cells had a significant increase and the percentage was 66.1% after 20 days' culture. But then, both the proliferate ability of CIK cells and the percentage of CD3+ CD56+ cells declined. CIK cells possessed significantly higher ability to kill tumor cells than 5-FU (P0.05) and the anti-tumor effects of CIK cells declined combined with 5-FU. CONCLUSIONS: CIK cells are highly efficient cytotoxicity effector cells which have a stronger significant suppression against growth of carcinoma of stomach in vitro. It is a suitable time for clinical application at day 15 to 20,which is the proliferation peak. 5-FU can decline the antitumor cytotoxicity of CIK cells.