Abstract: Objective To investigate whether immunotherapy with dendritic cells (DC) transduced with glypican 3 (GPC3) (DC- GPC3) and cocultured with cytokine- induced killer cells (CIK) (DCIK- GPC3) is capable of inhibiting hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in vivo. Methods The hepatocarcinoma cell-bearing mouse models were established and divided randomly into four groups (A, B, C, D) for the injection of normal saline (NS), CIK, DC-CIK, and DCIK-GPC3, respectively. Changes of tumor size, tumor inhibitory rate and cell apoptosis were compared between four groups. Results After treatment, the tumor volumes and weights were significantly decreased in D group compared with those of A, B and C groups (P＜0.01). The inhibition rate was significantly increased in D group compared with that of B group and C group (P＜ 0.01). The apoptotic rate was significantly increased in D group compared with that of A group, B group and C group (P＜ 0.01). Conclusion DCIK-GPC3 can significantly inhibit tumor growth in vivo.

Key words: glypicans, dendritic cells, cytokines, killer cells, liver neoplasms