Polyoma antigen driven T lymphocytes with antitumor and DTH activity in CBA mice.

T lymphocytes isolated from a bulk culture of splenocytes exposed in vitro to polyoma TAA and IL-2, taken from CBA mice with transplanted polyoma tumors, exhibited both antitumor and DTH activity to polyoma TAA, associated with the Lyt 1+ phenotype, and also showed an increased affinity to TAA. The antitumor efficacy of adoptive immunotherapy, consisting in the i.p. administration of these TAA-driven lymphocytes, showed time and IL-2 dependence, while transferred cells were capable of eliciting DTH independently of IL-2. The suppression of tumor growth observed in 70% of the animals in the optimal variant seems to result from the cooperation of transferred lymphocytes with the recipients own lymphocytes.