[Cytotoxicity of the lymphocytes of melanoma patients against autologous tumor cells and its in vitro enhancement].

Specific cytolytic and natural killer activity of peripheral blood lymphocytes was studied in 12 patients with metastatic melanoma. The cytolytic activity of lymphocytes against autologous tumor cells was found in 8 patients. It appeared significantly enhanced by pretreatment of tumor target cells with concanavalin A (Con A). The natural killer activity in all the patients was 2-10 times as high as the specific cytolytic activity. Stimulation of patient lymphocytes with autologous tumor cells or with the mixture of lymphocytes from 5 allogeneic donors induced the generation of highly active T killers possessing natural killer and specific antitumor cytolytic activity.