Tumor-Specific T-Cells Engineered to Overcome Tumor Immune Evasion Induce Clinical Responses in Patients With Relapsed Hodgkin Lymphoma

Purpose Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) production in the tumor microenvironment is a potent and ubiquitous tumor immune evasion mechanism that inhibits the expansion and function of tumor-directed responses; therefore, we conducted a clinical study to discover the effects of the forced expression of a dominant-negative TGF-β receptor type 2 (DNRII) on the safety, survival, and activity of infused tumor-directed T cells. Materials and Methods In a dose escalation study, eight patients with Epstein Barr virus-positive Hodgkin lymphoma received two to 12 doses of between 2 × 10