Drug-Induced Modulation and Immunotherapy of Leukemia
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Immunology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 April 2024) | Viewed by 262
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Although most patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) initially respond to induction therapy, 80% of patients suffer a relapse within the following two years, as leukemic cells hidden in the body reappear. This means that strategies are needed to not only destroy leukemic cells throughout the body, but also to modulate the cellular and soluble microenvironment into an antileukemic one that initiates and stabilizes antileukemic processes.
In this Special Issue, we focus on promising pharmacological and immunological strategies to overcome resistance, initiate antileukemic processes and stabilize remissions.
The fundamental problem with AML is that there are few neoantigens. However, several new therapeutic strategies are being developed with the aim of controlling the various forms of leukemia.
While standard stem cell transplantation immunotherapy introduces healthy donor cells into a patient’s hematopoietic system, antibody-based strategies (e.g., targeting checkpoint molecules) or cellular immunotherapies are now being tested, including the use of CAR-T or CAR-NK cells, which target myeloid or lymphatic blasts more specifically.
For several years, various pharmacological strategies have been tested that intervene in the metabolism of tumor cells, e.g., by influencing cell proliferation, apoptosis or signal transduction pathways, in order to ultimately overcome drug resistance, make malignant cells more sensitive to chemotherapy or eradicate leukemic cells more specifically.
It is also being investigated how the use of interference RNA or extracellular vesicles (exosomes) could specifically eradicate leukemic cells, e.g., by transporting signaling molecules or RNA as antileukemically directed cargo. Dendritic cells are considered to be the link between adaptive and innate immunity. Engineered DCs (loaded with leukemic antigens) have proven extremely efficient in mediating cytotoxic processes in leukemia, and are the only strategy capable of generating immunological antileukemic memory. If it is possible to generate drug-induced DCs in vivo from leukemic (residual) cells in as many leukemia subtypes as possible, this route could lead to a stabilization of remission in patients with leukemia.
Dr. Helga Maria Schmetzer
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- leukemia
- dendritic cells
- immunotherapy
- immune modulation
