{
  "abstract": "Introduction: Glioblastoma (GBM) remains an aggressive primary brain tumor with limited therapeutic options after recurrence. Cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells are ex vivo-expanded cytotoxic lymphocytes with T-cell and natural killer-like properties. We evaluated CIK-cell-based therapy using an orthotopic LN229-luciferase GBM model and a retrospective cohort of patients with recurrent GBM.\n\nMethods: Twelve independently manufactured patient-derived CIK-cell products were phenotypically characterized. In the orthotopic model, control, temozolomide (TMZ), and TMZ+CIK groups (n = 4 per group) were monitored by longitudinal bioluminescence imaging, with quantitative histological and immunohistochemical analyses. Clinical outcomes and safety were retrospectively evaluated in 12 heavily pretreated patients with recurrent GBM.\n\nResults: Expanded CIK-cell products showed a predominant effector-memory phenotype and high NKG2D and DNAM-1 expression. Longitudinal bioluminescence imaging demonstrated a significant treatment-by-time interaction among the three groups through Week 4 ( p = 0.0054). At Week 4, both TMZ and TMZ+CIK showed significantly lower radiance than control, whereas TMZ and TMZ+CIK did not differ significantly. An exploratory comparison between TMZ and TMZ+CIK through Week 8 was not significant ( p = 0.0663). Quantitative H&E analysis showed an overall group difference in tumor area fraction ( p = 0.0376), whereas Granzyme B and CD56 staining did not differ significantly. In the clinical cohort, stable disease was the best recorded response in all evaluable patients; median progression-free survival was 10.5 months and median overall survival was 14.2 months. CIK-cell-based therapy was generally well tolerated.\n\nDiscussion: These findings provide quantitative preclinical evidence of treatment-associated antitumor activity and support the clinical feasibility of CIK-cell-based therapy in recurrent GBM. However, the study does not establish a statistically significant incremental preclinical benefit of adding CIK cells to TMZ or clinical therapeutic efficacy. Prospective, adequately powered controlled studies are warranted.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Oncology-Hematology, Konyang University Hospital , ,",
    "Department of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, Konyang University , ,",
    "Department of Medical Oncology, Yuseong Sun General Hospital , ,",
    "Product Development Division, GC Cell Corp. , ,",
    "R&D M Unit, GC Cell Corp. , ,"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 8,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Young Kyu Park"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Dong Won Yang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Kyun Woo Park"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Gun He Nam"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Choon-Soo Lee"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Tae Whan Kim"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Jong-Yeup Kim"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Jong Gwon Choi"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/0sw5y4yza0d8p.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3389/fneur.2026.1895857",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13662175/?tool=EBI",
  "id": "0sw5y4yza0d8p",
  "issns": [
    "1664-2295"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13662175",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2716|Glioma Diagnosis and Treatment"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7214977225",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13662175/pdf/?tool=EBI",
  "pmcid": "PMC13662175",
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-30",
  "publisher": "Frontiers Media SA",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/0sw5y4yza0d8p.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:20Z",
      "native_id": "PMC:PMC13662175",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13662175"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:16Z",
      "native_id": "10.3389/fneur.2026.1895857",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2026.1895857/full"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2716|Glioma Diagnosis and Treatment",
      "subfield": "human-genetics"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Cytokine-induced killer cells combined with temozolomide suppress glioblastoma progression in an orthotopic model and demonstrate clinical feasibility in recurrent glioblastoma",
  "title_text": "Cytokine-induced killer cells combined with temozolomide suppress glioblastoma progression in an orthotopic model and demonstrate clinical feasibility in recurrent glioblastoma",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:20:16Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/0sw5y4yza0d8p",
  "venue": "Frontiers in neurology",
  "versions": []
}