Novel strategies of adoptive immunotherapy: How natural killer cells may change the treatment of elderly patients with acute myeloblastic leukemia.
Although many attempts have been made to identify novel molecular-targeted therapies for patients with acute myeloid leukemia, their translation into the clinic have had limited impact. In particular, the question of effective and curative treatments for elderly patients, who are not eligible for stem cell transplantation, remains an unmet medical need. To answer this question, a wide range of immunologic therapeutic strategies, mostly T cell based, have been proposed and investigated. At present, however, the clinical results have been largely unsatisfactory. Natural killer cells have recently been used as a means of adoptive immunotherapy with promising clinical results. On the basis of recent clinical reports and moving from the basic immunobiology of natural killer cells, here we discuss some open issues in the clinical translation of natural killer-based adoptive immunotherapy for the management of elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia.
Clinic of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine (DiMI), University of Genoa, IRCCS S. Martino-IST, Genoa, Italy.
Roberto M
RM
Lemoli
Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, Institute of Hematology "L. and A. Seràgnoli", University of Bologna, S. Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, Bologna, Italy.
Sarah
S
Parisi
Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, Institute of Hematology "L. and A. Seràgnoli", University of Bologna, S. Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, Bologna, Italy. Electronic address: antonio.curti2@unibo.it.
Antonio
A
Curti
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D019468:Disease Management; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D016219:Immunotherapy, Adoptive / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D012008:Recurrence; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D014019:Tissue Donors; D016896:Treatment Outcome