Virus-specific T-cell banks for 'off the shelf' adoptive therapy of refractory infections. Review uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • Adoptive immunotherapy with transplant donor-derived virus-specific T cells has emerged as a potentially curative approach for the treatment of drug-refractory EBV+lymphomas as well as CMV and adenovirus infections complicating allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplants. Adoptive transfer of HLA partially matched virus-specific T cells from healthy third party donors has also shown promise in the treatment of these conditions, with disease response rates of 50-76% and strikingly low incidences of toxicity or GVHD recorded in initial trials. In this review, we examine the reported experience with transplant donor and third party donor-derived virus-specific T cells, identifying characteristics of the viral pathogen, the T cells administered and the diseased host that contribute to treatment response or failure. We also describe the characteristics of virus-specific T-cell lines in our center's bank and the frequency with which in vitro culture promotes expansion of immunodominant T cells specific for epitopes that are presented by a limited array of prevalent HLA alleles, which facilitates their broad applicability for treatment.

publication date

  • April 4, 2016

Research

keywords

  • Adoptive Transfer
  • Antigens, Viral
  • T-Lymphocytes
  • Virus Diseases

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC5356365

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 84962071072

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1182/blood-2011-05-354449

PubMed ID

  • 27042851

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 51

issue

  • 9