Trastuzumab activates allogeneic or autologous antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity against malignant rhabdoid tumor cells and interleukin-2 augments the cytotoxicity.

PURPOSE Malignant rhabdoid tumor (MRT) is an early childhood cancer with poor prognosis. Trastuzumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody against human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2), has been shown to be effective against breast cancer and other cancers. We investigated the effect of trastuzumab on MRT cell lines. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN We examined expression of HER-2 on four MRT cell lines and two tumor tissues by indirect immunofluorescence, flow cytometry, and immunohistochemistry. The effect of trastuzumab against MRT cells was examined by cell growth assay. To observe the antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity of effector cells, we examined the cytotoxicity of trastuzumab in combination with allogeneic or autologous human peripheral blood mononuclear cells with and without IL-2 using the chromium release assay. RESULTS All four MRT cell lines and both MRT tissues expressed HER-2 protein. Trastuzumab alone did not reduce the viability of the MRT cell lines. On the other hand, the cytotoxicity of trastuzumab against each of the MRT cell lines was significantly increased by the presence of allogeneic and autologous peripheral blood mononuclear cells (P < 0.01). There was a strong correlation coefficient (r = 0.825) between HER-2 expression and the cytotoxicity enhanced by trastuzumab. Moreover, trastuzumab in combination with peripheral blood mononuclear cells augmented by interleukin-2 (IL-2) was significantly more cytotoxic than trastuzumab alone or IL-2 alone (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that (1) trastuzumab can exert antitumor effects on MRT cells by using the antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity of effector cells and (2) IL-2 can enhance the cytotoxicity of trastuzumab against MRT cells.