5 Years of Clinical DC-CIK/NK Cells Immunotherapy for Acute Myeloid Leukemia â€“ a Summary

Abstract

Aim: To assess the efficacy of dendritic cells-cytokine induced killer (DC-CIK) and natural killer (NK) cell-based immunotherapy in treating the low- and intermediate-risk acute myeloid leukemia. Patients & methods: DC-CIK or NK cells were infused once every 3 months for 2–4 cycles to 85 patients. Results & conclusion: The 5-year overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) rates were 90.5 and 65.2%, respectively. The OS of the very favorable, the favorable and the intermediate-risk groups was 94.4, 86.3 and 93.3% (p = 0.88), and the RFS 83.3, 81.8 and 62.2% (p = 0.14), respectively. The OS and RFS of the 60 patients treated with DC-CIK alternating with NK cells were better than the 25 patients treated with DC-CIK or NK alone (96.5 vs 71.2%; p = 0.003. 79.5 vs 28.9%; p < 0.001).

Case report: Dendritic cell-cytokine induced killer cell therapy in subjects with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and peritoneal cancer

“…There is a significant pathophysiological difference between the cancer of the two subjects, specifically the contrast between solid and liquid cancers. Both the solid and liquid cancer subjects in this trial experienced positive outcomes in their overall cancer treatment, echoing results demonstrated by previous research in both groups ( 9 , 11 , 13 , 14 ). Notably, in this trial and in numerous other aforementioned systematic reviews and meta-analyses of DC-CIK clinical trials, there have been no severe adverse effects reported related to the DC-CIK immunotherapy.…”

“…As far as we are aware, this is the first report of DC-CIK therapy for CLL and peritoneal cancer, respectively. The use of DC-CIK as an adjunct to standard cancer treatments has piqued the interest of oncologists due to convincing results reported by preclinical and clinical trials in several different cancer types (9,(11)(12)(13)(14). Research investigating a combination of DC-CIK immunotherapy and chemotherapy in different cancer types has revealed significant variations in cell dosage.…”

“…The combined group experienced a 45.8% rate of molecular biological remission in comparison to a mere 8% in the chemotherapy-only group. In another trial, patients with acute myeloid leukemia who received DC-CIK infusions every 3 months for 2–4 cycles demonstrated a 5-year overall survival rate of 90.5% with a relapse-free survival rate of 65.2% ( 9 ).…”

Current and Future Immunotherapy-Based Treatments for Oesophageal Cancers

“…This suggests that DC's may actually mediate immune tolerance and therefore allow disease progression [93]. There is a huge opportunity to exploit DC heterogeneity for immune therapy, and current trials include the production of DC vaccines [94,95] and the combination of DCs with cytokine-induced killer cells or DC-CIK therapy [96,97].…”

Somatic FOXC1 insertion mutation remodels the immune microenvironment and promotes the progression of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

“…In addition, Tregs inhibit the differentiation of B cells through the granzyme A pathway [ 21 ]. In immunotherapy for leukemia, dendritic cells cytokine induced killer cell (DC-CIK) loaded with specific leukemia cells significantly decreases the peripheral Treg distribution in patients with ALL [ 22 ]. Although the immunosuppressive and tumor-promoting effects of Tregs in the occurrence and development of ALL in children have been gradually clarified by researchers, the effects of the promotion of Treg differentiation on the occurrence of ALL in children, as well as the specific upstream regulatory mechanism, remain unclear.…”