Vγ9Vδ2 T cells as a promising innovative tool for immunotherapy of hematologic malignancies

• Published in: Oncology reviews Vol. 4; no. 4; pp. 211 - 218
• Main Authors: Meraviglia, Serena, La Mendola, Carmela, Orlando, Valentina, Scarpa, Francesco, Cicero, Giuseppe, Dieli, Francesco
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Milan Springer Milan 01.12.2010
• Subjects: Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Oncology; Review; Cytotoxicity; Hematologic malignancies; Cytokines; Vγ9Vδ2 T cells; Immunotherapy
• ISSN: 1970-5557; 1970-5557; 1970-5565
• DOI: 10.1007/s12156-010-0054-z

The potent anti-tumor activities of γδ T cells, their ability to produce pro-inflammatory cytokines, and their strong cytolytic activity have prompted the development of protocols in which γδ agonists or ex vivo-expanded γδ cells are administered to tumor patients. γδ T cells can be selectively activated by either synthetic phosphoantigens or by drugs that enhance their accumulation into stressed cells as aminobisphosphonates, thus offering new avenues for the development of γδ T cell-based immunotherapies. The recent development of small drugs selectively activating Vγ9Vδ2 T lymphocytes, which upregulate the endogenous phosphoantigens, has enabled the investigators to design the experimental approaches of cancer immunotherapies; several ongoing phase I and II clinical trials are focused on the role of the direct bioactivity of drugs and of adoptive cell therapies involving phosphoantigen- or aminobisphosphonate-activated Vγ9Vδ2 T lymphocytes in humans. In this review, we focus on the recent advances in the activation/expansion of γδ T cells in vitro and in vivo that may represent a promising target for the design of novel and highly innovative immunotherapy in patients with hematologic malignancies.