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Poster Presentation
Monitoring of immunity against leukemia stem cell in CML patients after cessation of TKI
  1. Maiko Matsushita1,
  2. Koji Ozawa1,
  3. Saori Kanchi1,
  4. Akane Uchiumi1,
  5. Takuma Suzuki2,
  6. Daiju Ichikawa1,
  7. Eri Matsuki3,
  8. Masatoshi Sakurai3,
  9. Daiki Karigane3,
  10. Hidenori Kasahara3,
  11. Hideaki Nakajima3,
  12. Shinichiro Okamoto3 and
  13. Yutaka Hattori1
  1. Aff1 grid.26091.3c0000000419369959Faculty of PharmacyKeio University Tokyo Japan
  2. Aff2 grid.272242.30000000121685385Division of PharmacyNational Cancer Center Hospital Tokyo Japan
  3. Aff3 grid.26091.3c0000000419369959Division of HematologyKeio University Tokyo Japan

https://doi.org/10.1186/2051-1426-3-S2-P260

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    Meeting abstracts

    Purpose

    Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have improved overall survival of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Moreover, it has been reported that some of the patients achieve treatment-free remission (TFR) after cessation of TKIs, even though leukemic stem cells (LSC) of CML are considered to be resistant to TKIs. Therefore, these findings suggest that remaining LSCs could be eradicated by immune system after withdrawal of TKIs. In order to clarify the role of anti-LSC immunity in achieving TFR, we tried to detect cytotoxic T cells against one of the LSC antigens, KU-MEL9 in CML patients.

    Methods

    Fresh blood samples were obtained from 16 CML patients who stopped imatinib after maintained complete molecular response (CMR) for more than two years at 0,3, and 6 months after cessation of imatinib. Mononuclear cells were stimulated with LSC antigen, KU-MEL9-derived nanomer peptide twice in vitro, then stained with anti-KU-MEL9-specific dextramer and analyzed by flow cytometry. Immunophenotype of lymphocytes was also determined by flow cytometry.

    Results

    We detected KU-MEL9-specific CTLs in 3 of 16 patients (Table 1). All of these patients remained in CMR at least 12 months after cessation of imatinib. On the other hand, none of 4 patients who showed molecular relapse presented with KU-MEL9-specific CTLs. The relapse rate of patients without KU-MEL9-CTLs was 31.3%, as compared to 0 % in KU-MEL9-CTL-positive patients. Percentage of CD4+ CD25+ cells was higher in patients who experienced loss of CMR.

    View this table:

    Table 1

    Conclusion

    We found LSC antigen-specific T cells only in patients who achieved TFR. Although the patient size is small, these data suggest that anti-LSC CTLs may play a role in eradicating remaining LSCs after imatinib treatment and LSC antigen-specific immunotherapy could be useful to increase TFR rate.

    Consent

    Written informed consent was obtained from the patients for publication of this abstract and any accompanying images. A copy of the written consent is available for review by the Editor of this journal.