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Immunotherapy of Acute Myeloid Leukemia: Current Approaches

^aVaccine & Infectious Disease Institute (VIDI), Laboratory of Experimental Hematology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium; ^bCenter for Cellular Therapy and Regenerative Medicine, Antwerp University Hospital, Antwerp, Belgium

Key Words. Myeloid leukemia • Active immunotherapy • Passive immunotherapy

Correspondence: Correspondence: Viggo F.I. Van Tendeloo, VIDI, Laboratory of Experimental Hematology, University of Antwerp (UA), Antwerp University Hospital (UZA), Wilrijkstraat 10, B-2650 Antwerp, Belgium. Telephone: 32-3-8213661; Fax: 32-3-8214456; e-mail: viggo.van.tendeloo{at}uza.be

Received August 1, 2008; accepted for publication February 16, 2009.

Disclosure: Evelien L.J.M. Smits: None; Zwi N. Berneman: None; Viggo F.I. Van Tendeloo: None. The content of this article has been reviewed by independent peer reviewers to ensure that it is balanced, objective, and free from commercial bias. No financial relationships relevant to the content of this article have been disclosed by the authors, planners, independent peer reviewers, or staff managers.

Following standard therapy that consists of chemotherapy with or without stem cell transplantation, both relapsed and refractory disease shorten the survival of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. Therefore, additional treatment options are urgently needed, especially to fight residual AML cells. The identification of leukemia-associated antigens and the observation that administration of allogeneic T cells can mediate a graft-versus-leukemia effect paved the way to the development of active and passive immunotherapy strategies, respectively. The aim of these strategies is the eradication of AML cells by the immune system. In this review, an overview is provided of both active and passive immunotherapy strategies that are under investigation or in use for the treatment of AML. For each strategy, a critical view on the state of the art is given and future perspectives are discussed.