Adoptive transfer of anti-idiotypic T cells cure mice of disseminated B cell lymphoma.

There is extensive interest in idiotypic vaccination as a treatment of lymphoma. An alternative approach is the adoptive transfer of in vitro generated T cells. This strategy has been used to treat posttransplantation EBV-related diseases. The ability to generate in vitro T cells to peptides derived from immunoglobulin idiotypes raises the possibility of directly using such cells as a treatment of lymphoma. Investigating the adoptive transfer of specific T cells to idiotype derived peptides in a murine lymphoma model is therefore an important part of the clinical translation of this alternative approach. We have generated an idiotype-specific T cell line, able to recognise a defined, naturally processed idiotype-derived epitope. This line has been used to successfully treat mice with disseminated lymphoma supporting the clinical use of idiotype specific T cells.