Definition

Peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) transduced with a gene encoding for a thyroglobulin (TG)-specific murine T-cell receptor (mTCR), with potential antineoplastic activity. PBLs are harvested from a thyroid cancer patient, and transfected with a retroviral vector that encodes the mTCR gene specific for the human TG antigen. The transduced PBLs are then expanded in culture. When reintroduced to the patient, these anti-TG mTCR-expressing PBLs target and bind to TG-overexpressing tumor cells, which results in both cytokine secretion and tumor cell lysis. TG is a thyroid-specific protein.