ABSTRACT
Antigen-specific immunotherapies have long been pursued as a means to improve the outcomes of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Success thus far has been limited, and many therapeutics have either been ineffective in the clinic or have an uncertain impact on patient outcomes. Only the CD33 antibody-drug conjugate gemtuzumab ozogamicin provided benefit in randomized studies. Here, we briefly review where we currently are with antigen-specific AML immunotherapy and where we might go from here. Besides the exploration of novel target antigens, ongoing preclinical and clinical efforts aim to improve existing immunotherapy modalities and focus on developing novel therapeutics such as bispecific antibodies and gene-modified immune effector cells. Ultimately, clinical studies need to address the question of ideal target(s) in AML, a disease of great antigenic diversity, and clarify how the upcoming immunotherapeutics should be best used and what level of supportive care is required for their safe administration.
Acknowledgements
RB Walter is a Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Scholar in Clinical Research.
Financial and competing interests disclosure
RB Walter has received laboratory research funding from Amgen, Inc., Amphivena Therapeutics, Inc., and Seattle Genetics, Inc., and has been a consultant for Amphivena Therapeutics, Inc., AstraZeneca, Inc., Celgene, Inc., Covagen AG, Emergent Biosolutions, Inc., Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Pfizer, Inc., and Seattle Genetics, Inc. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.