T he outcomes of adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) remain inferior to those observed in pediatric populations. Targeted therapy with monoclonal antibodies and immunotherapy represents the most promising new way to fight ALL without significant additive toxicity. Since the use of rituximab in combination chemoimmunotherapy for treatment of B cell lineage ALL, a number of other monoclonal antibodies are under investigation for the treatment of this disease. Deep molecular remissions with anti-CD19-and anti-CD22-directed therapy have been shown in relapsed/refractory (R/R) disease, allowing for the opportunity to transplant. Blinatumomab is the first antigen-directed treatment approved for use in R/R ALL. Adoptive cellular therapy with human T cells genetically engineered to express CD19 redirected chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) has also recently demonstrated efficacy in patients with B cell lineage ALL. In this article, we review the therapeutic implications, primary results, and current status of antigen-targeted treatments and immunotherapy in adult B cell lineage ALL.
KeywordsAcute lymphoblastic leukemia, monoclonal antibodies, prognosis, blinatumomab, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, inotuzumab ozogamicin, rituximab, epratuzumab Disclosure: Xavier Thomas has nothing to declare in relation to this article. No funding was received in the publication of this article.
Compliance with Ethics:This study involves a review of the literature and did not involve any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.Authorship: All named authors meet the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) criteria for authorship of this manuscript, take responsibility for the integrity of the work as a whole, and have given final approval to the version to be published.Open Access: This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License, which permits any non-commercial use, distribution, adaptation and reproduction provided the original author(s) and source are given appropriate credit. One approach to improving outcomes in adult ALL involves intensification of existing chemotherapy combinations or the addition of chemotherapeutic agents. 2 The results of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for adults with ALL in first-line therapy have also improved significantly over time, 3 but it is unlikely that the sole intensification of regimens can continue to improve prognosis substantially. Intensifying chemotherapy may reduce the incidence of resistance, but at the cost of increased toxicities. Outcomes remain particularly poor in relapsed/refractory (R/R) patients. Response rates after salvage treatment range from 18-45% and median survival times from 2-8 months, with less than 10% survival after 5 years. [4][5][6][7][8][9] In this setting, allogeneic HSCT is the only curative option, but this can only be achieved in a subgroup of patients. 4,5,8 A retrospective analysis of 1,706 adult patients with Philadelphia chromosome-neg...