Investigators present prospects for immune therapy of acute myeloid leukemia in a recent issue of Cancer Immunology Immunotherapy

08-23-2006

According to their report, "Cell based therapies for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have made significant progress in the last decade benefiting the prognosis and survival of patients with this aggressive form of leukemia. Due to advances in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and particularly the advent of reduced intensity conditioning (RIC), the scope of transplantation has now extended to those patients previously ineligible due to age and health restrictions and has been associated with a decrease in transplant related mortality."

"The apparent graft-versus-leukemia (GvL) effect observed following HSCT demonstrates the potential of the immune system to target and eradicate AML cells," said Lucas Chan and colleagues at King's College London. "Building on previously published pre-clinical studies by ourselves and others, we are now initiating a Phase I clinical study in which lentiviral vectors are used to genetically modify AML cells to express B7.1 (CD80) and IL-2. By combining allogeneic HSCT with immunization, using the autologous AML cells expressing B7.1 and IL-2, we hope to stimulate immune eradication of residual AML cells in poor prognosis patients that have achieved donor chimerism."

The authors noted, "In this report we describe the background to cell-therapy-based approaches for AML, and discuss difficulties associated with the deployment of a chronically stimulated, hence exhausted/depleted immune system to eradicate tumor cells that have already escaped immune surveillance."

Chan and associates published their study in Cancer Immunology Immunotherapy (An immune-edited tumor versus a tumor-edited immune system: prospects for immune therapy of acute myeloid leukemia. Cancer Immunol Immunother, 2006;55(8):1017-1024).

For additional information, contact Farzin Farzaneh, King's College London, Department of Hematological Molecular Medicine, Rayne Institute, 123 Coldharbour Lane, SE5 9NU, London, UK. farzin.farzaneh@kcl.ac.uk.

Keywords: London, England, Leukemia Vaccine, Cancer Vaccine, Vaccine Development, Vaccine Efficacy, Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Immunology, Immunotherapy, Oncology, Proteomics.

This article was prepared by Clinical Oncology Week editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2006, Clinical Oncology Week via NewsRx.com.