This invention provides improved methods for in vitro culturing of therapeutic quantities of expanded subpopulations of lymphoid cells for use in methods of adoptive immunotherapy. Lymphoid cells, which are derived from a patient, are grown in a hollow cell fiber bioreactor culture system in the presence of at least one growth promoting substance, that specifically expands subpopulations of the lymphoid cells that are useful in methods of adoptive immunotherapy, including the treatment of cancer and genetic disorders. The improved methods of this invention provide convenient and inexpensive means for generating the large numbers of biologically active cells that are needed for adoptive immunotherapy.
