[CD7 expression and its prognostic significance in acute myeloid leukemia patients with wild-type or mutant CEBPA]

Natural killer cell-based immunotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia

Despite considerable progress has been achieved in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia over the past decades, relapse remains a major problem. Novel therapeutic options aimed at attaining minimal residual disease-negative complete remission are expected to reduce the incidence of relapse and prolong survival. Natural killer cell-based immunotherapy is put forward as an option to tackle the unmet clinical needs. There have been an increasing number of therapeutic dimensions ranging from adoptive NK cell transfer, chimeric antigen receptor-modified NK cells, antibodies, cytokines to immunomodulatory drugs. In this review, we will summarize different forms of NK cell-based immunotherapy for AML based on preclinical investigations and clinical trials.

[Analysis of immunophenotypes and expressions of non-myeloid antigens in acute myeloid leukemia]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the characteristics of immunophenotypes and expressions of non-myeloid differentiation antigens in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and their value in diagnosis and prognostic evaluation of AML.

METHODS

We examined the immunophenotypes of 109 patients with AML using BD FACSCalibur flow cytometry and analyzed the association of the immunophenotypes and expressions of non-myeloid differentiation antigens with the prognosis and complete remission (CR) rate of the patients.

RESULTS

Immunophenotype analysis showed that the positivity rates of the myeloid differentiation antigens of AML cells decreased in the order of CD13, CD117, CD33, MPO and CD15; the positivity rates of CD117, CD13, CD33 and MPO did not differ significantly (P > 0.05) and were all significantly higher than that of CD15 (P < 0.05). The positivity rates of AML cell non-lineage antigens CD34, CD38, HLA-DR, and CD123 did not differ significantly (P > 0.05). The positivity rates of non-myeloid differentiation antigens decreased in the order of CD9, CD200, CD56 and CD7 in AML cells and were all significantly higher than those of CD25, CD19, CD2, CD10, CD4, CyCD79a and CyCD3 (P < 0.05). Among the 109 AML patients, the CR rates of patients positive for CD7, CD34, CD56 and CD25 were significantly lower than those negative for these antigens (P < 0.05); the CR rates were significantly higher in patients positive for MPO and CD19 than in the negative patients (P < 0.05). Among the 15 AML-M2b patients with AML1-ETO positivity, the CR rate following a single treatment course was significantly lower in patients positive for CD56 than in CD56-negative patients, and CD56-positive patients also had a significantly higher relapse rate within 1 year (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Immunophenotyping and analysis of non-myeloid differentiation antigens can be of great clinical significance for the diagnosis and prognostic evaluation of AML, and serve also as one of the important bases for the diagnosis and treatment of AML.