title: Immune response as a possible mechanism of long-lasting disease control in spontaneous remission of MLL/AF9-positive acute myeloid leukemia.
abstract: Spontaneous complete remission (CR) is a rare, poorly understood phenomenon in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). We describe the 10-year follow-up of a patient with MLL-AF9-positive AML (Müller et al. Eur J Haematol 73:62-66, 2004), including ex vivo antileukemic immune responses which may contribute to the long-lasting spontaneous CR (tantamount to cure). We could demonstrate strong in vitro cytotoxic activity mediated by the patient's serum (cryopreserved at diagnosis 2001) against myeloid cell lines. We also addressed cellular cytotoxic activity against myeloid leukemia cells. When the patient's natural killer (NK) cells (obtained in 2007) were tested against the K562 cell line, upregulation of CD107 occurred, implying that long-term CR in this patient could be due to NK cell-mediated disease control.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology and Oncology, University of Freiburg Medical Center, Hugstetter Straße 55, 79106 Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Müller-Schmah
authors.forename: Leticia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Solari
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Weis
authors.forename: Dietmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pfeifer
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Scheibenbogen
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trepel
authors.forename: Annette M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: May
authors.forename: Rupert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Engelhardt
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lübbert
mesh_terms: D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000276:immunology; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic / Q000276:immunology*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007109:Immunity / Q000276:immunology*; D020014:K562 Cells; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D022423:Myeloid Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D051788:Myeloid-Lymphoid Leukemia Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D015514:Oncogene Proteins, Fusion / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D012075:Remission, Spontaneous; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; C474558:MLL-AF9 fusion protein, human; D015514:Oncogene Proteins, Fusion; D051788:Myeloid-Lymphoid Leukemia Protein