Efficacy of cytokine-induced killer therapy following operation of renal cell carcinoma in north China

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the antitumor activity of CIK cells in vitro and investigate the clinical efficacy of cytokine-induced killer (CIK) therapy following operation of renal cell carcinoma patients in North China. Method: In vitro experiments, the secretion of IFN-γ and IL-2 in CIK cells were detected by ELISA and the degranulation was detected by flow cytometry. From January 1, 2012 to October 1, 2015, 202 patients were enrolled in the study and were followed up for at least 36 months. The information of 101 patients who received CIK treatment following nephrectomy and other 101 patients who only received nephrectomy was retrospectively collected. In addition, the correlation of CIK treatment to prognosis of patients following nephrectomy, including disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS), was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier analyses. COX proportional hazards analyses were used to investigate the benefited population. Results: In vitro, DC-CIK group exhibited the highest cytokines secretion and cytotoxicity followed by the CIK group. In addition, survival analysis showed that patients in North China who received CIK therapy has better prognosis compared to the control group. And the COX proportional hazards analyses demonstrated that in North China, patients with different characteristics can benefit from CIK treatment at the same. Conclusions: CIK immunotherapy is an effective and safety adjuvant for the patients with ccRCC following nephrectomy in North China.