Depletion of CD27−CD28−cells improves the expansion of T cells from heavily pretreated DLBCL patients. PBMCs from pretreated DLBCL patients were rested overnight followed by FACS sorting to separate CD27−CD28− cells from the remaining populations. Cells were then stimulated with anti-CD3/CD28 beads with IL-2 for 14 days. (A) Comparison of normal T-cell expansion from healthy donors, untreated DLBCL patients, and treated DLBCL patients. (B) Flow plots showing the sorting strategy and postsort purity. (C) T-cell viability at the end of the expansion period as assessed by Sytox blue staining. (D) Quantitation of cell viabilities for the indicated populations on day 14 of expansion (n = 4 DLBCL patient donors). (E) Cell counts of cultures consisting of the indicated T-cell populations from 4 patient sorts. **P < .01, ****P < .001.