title: On the use of donor-derived iNKT cells for adoptive immunotherapy to prevent leukemia recurrence in pediatric recipients of HLA haploidentical HSCT for hematological malignancies.
abstract: T-cell-depleted hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from an HLA haploidentical relative (hHSCT) is a useful therapy for children with high-risk leukemia lacking suitable HLA-matched donors. The immune deficiency ensuing hHSCT renders patients susceptible to life-threatening infections and disease recurrence. Adoptive immunotherapy can restore/enhance early post-transplantation immunocompetence of hHSCT recipients. Efforts are directed to identify strategies for inducing graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) response, while avoiding graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) occurrence. CD1d-restricted invariant iNKT cells are innate-like, lipid-reactive T lymphocytes implicated in the control of innate and adaptive immunity. Preclinical data suggest that iNKT cells positively modulate both GVL response and GVHD. Our recent findings in a cohort of 22 children given hHSCT for different hematological malignancies show that failure to reconstitute iNKT cells after transplantation correlates with leukemia relapse. In this review, we will discuss potential new options for adoptively transferring donor-derived iNKT cells into hHSCT recipients in the early post-transplantation period to prevent disease recurrence.
authors.affiliation: Experimental Immunology Unit, Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milano, Italy. dellabona.paolo@hsr.it
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dellabona
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Casorati
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: de Lalla
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Montagna
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Locatelli
mesh_terms: D001782:Blood Donors; D002648:Child; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D016219:Immunotherapy, Adoptive / Q000379:methods*; D007938:Leukemia / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D055611:Natural Killer T-Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
chemical_list: D006680:HLA Antigens