Advances in Treatment of Leukemia

A special issue of Bioengineering (ISSN 2306-5354). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomedical Engineering and Biomaterials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 5841

Special Issue Editor

Department of Therapeutics & Toxicology, School of Medicine and Public Health, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Interests: leukemia treatment; aptamer; drug delivery; biomaterials

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Leukemia is a heterogenous cancer of blood-forming cells, including the bone marrow and the lymphatic system. It could be classified as myelocytic or lymphocytic based on the cell of origin. However, novel therapeutic agents are lacking for leukemia treatment because of its diverse pathogenesis. Bioengineering technologies such as CAR-T, antibody–drug conjugates (ADC), cancer vaccines, and nuclear acid drugs have been developed for the treatment of leukemia during the past few decades. These bioengineering technologies utilize the unique properties of biomacromolecule or immune cells and could specifically deliver drugs into leukemia cells or induce immune response, resulting in leukemia cell death. Compared with traditional chemotherapy drugs, bioengineering drugs have exhibited better biocompatibility and are becoming a promising area for leukemia treatment.

This Special Issue on “Advances in Treatment of Leukemia” focuses on original research papers and comprehensive reviews which investigate multiscale novel bioengineering technologies for effective leukemia treatment.

Dr. Hua Naranmandura
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Review

22 pages, 911 KiB  
Review
Immunotherapy in Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Literature Review of Emerging Strategies
by Luca Guarnera, Carlos Bravo-Perez and Valeria Visconte
Bioengineering 2023, 10(10), 1228; https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering10101228 - 20 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1519
Abstract
In the last twenty years, we have witnessed a paradigm shift in the treatment and prognosis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), thanks to the introduction of new efficient drugs or approaches to refine old therapies, such as Gemtuzumab Ozogamicin, CPX 3-5-1, hypomethylating agents, [...] Read more.
In the last twenty years, we have witnessed a paradigm shift in the treatment and prognosis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), thanks to the introduction of new efficient drugs or approaches to refine old therapies, such as Gemtuzumab Ozogamicin, CPX 3-5-1, hypomethylating agents, and Venetoclax, the optimization of conditioning regimens in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and the improvement of supportive care. However, the long-term survival of non-M3 and non-core binding factor-AML is still dismal. For this reason, the expectations for the recently developed immunotherapies, such as antibody-based therapy, checkpoint inhibitors, and chimeric antigen receptor strategies, successfully tested in other hematologic malignancies, were very high. The inherent characteristics of AML blasts hampered the development of these treatments, and the path of immunotherapy in AML has been bumpy. Herein, we provide a detailed review of potential antigenic targets, available data from pre-clinical and clinical trials, and future directions of immunotherapies in AML. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Treatment of Leukemia)
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24 pages, 390 KiB  
Review
The Role of Venetoclax in Relapsed/Refractory Acute Myeloid Leukemia: Past, Present, and Future Directions
by Matteo Piccini, Francesco Mannelli and Giacomo Coltro
Bioengineering 2023, 10(5), 591; https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering10050591 - 13 May 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2028
Abstract
Relapsed and/or refractory (R/R) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is hallmarked by dramatic prognosis. Treatment remains challenging, with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) as the only curative option. The BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax (VEN) has proven to be a promising therapy for AML and [...] Read more.
Relapsed and/or refractory (R/R) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is hallmarked by dramatic prognosis. Treatment remains challenging, with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) as the only curative option. The BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax (VEN) has proven to be a promising therapy for AML and is currently the standard of care in combination with hypomethylating agents (HMAs) for newly diagnosed AML patients ineligible for induction chemotherapy. Given its satisfactory safety profile, VEN-based combinations are increasingly being investigated as a part of the therapeutic strategy for R/R AML. The current paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of the main evidence regarding VEN in the setting of R/R AML, with a specific focus on combinational strategies, including HMAs and cytotoxic chemotherapy, as well as different clinical settings, especially in view of the crucial role of HSCT. A discussion of what is known about drug resistance mechanisms and future combinational strategies is also provided. Overall, VEN-based regimes (mainly VEN + HMA) have provided unprecedented salvage treatment opportunities in patients with R/R AML, with low extra-hematological toxicity. On the other hand, the issue of overcoming resistance is one of the most important fields to be addressed in upcoming clinical research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Treatment of Leukemia)
16 pages, 1095 KiB  
Review
The Landscape of Nucleic-Acid-Based Aptamers for Treatment of Hematologic Malignancies: Challenges and Future Directions
by Si Chun Wang, Xing Yi Yan, Chang Yang and Hua Naranmandura
Bioengineering 2022, 9(11), 635; https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering9110635 - 02 Nov 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1926
Abstract
Hematologic malignancies, including leukemia, lymphoma, myeloproliferative disorder and plasma cell neoplasia, are genetically heterogeneous and characterized by an uncontrolled proliferation of their corresponding cell lineages in the bone marrow, peripheral blood, tissues or plasma. Although there are many types of therapeutic drugs (e.g., [...] Read more.
Hematologic malignancies, including leukemia, lymphoma, myeloproliferative disorder and plasma cell neoplasia, are genetically heterogeneous and characterized by an uncontrolled proliferation of their corresponding cell lineages in the bone marrow, peripheral blood, tissues or plasma. Although there are many types of therapeutic drugs (e.g., TKIs, chemotherapy drugs) available for treatment of different malignancies, the relapse, drug resistance and severe side effects due to the lack of selectivity seriously limit their clinical application. Currently, although antibody–drug conjugates have been well established as able to target and deliver highly potent chemotherapy agents into cancer cells for the reduction of damage to healthy cells and have achieved success in leukemia treatment, they still also have shortcomings such as high cost, high immunogenicity and low stability. Aptamers are ssDNA or RNA oligonucleotides that can also precisely deliver therapeutic agents into cancer cells through specifically recognizing the membrane protein on cancer cells, which is similar to the capabilities of monoclonal antibodies. Aptamers exhibit higher binding affinity, lower immunogenicity and higher thermal stability than antibodies. Therefore, in this review we comprehensively describe recent advances in the development of aptamer–drug conjugates (ApDCs) with cytotoxic payload through chemical linkers or direct incorporation, as well as further introduce the latest promising aptamers-based therapeutic strategies such as aptamer–T cell therapy and aptamer–PROTAC, clarifying their bright application, development direction and challenges in the treatment of hematologic malignancies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Treatment of Leukemia)
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