A small proportion of chronic myeloid leukemia patients treated with interferon-α (IFN-α) monotherapy are able to discontinue the treatment without disease relapse although residual leukemia cells are present. Recently, we showed that these patients have increased amount of NK-cells and a distinct blood cytokine profile. We now aimed to study the function of NK- and T-cells in order to understand the role of the immune system in maintaining the treatment response after IFN-α discontinuation. The study included 13 patients: 5 patients were still treated with IFN-α monotherapy (IFN-ON, median treatment time 163 months) and 8 had stopped the treatment successfully (IFN-OFF, median time without therapy 42 months). Detailed immunophenotype and cytokine production of NK- and T-cells was analyzed with flow cytometry. In addition, the cytotoxicity of NK-cells was studied using K562 as target cells and both the degranulation and direct killing was measured. Compared to healthy controls, IFN-OFF patients had increased proportion of CD4(+) effector memory (CCR7(-)CD45RA(-); median 23% vs. healthy 16%, p = 0.009) and CD8(+) central memory T-cells (CCR7(+)CD45RA(-); median 26% vs. healthy 14%, p = 0.004). Further, upon stimulation the IFN-γ/TNF-α cytokine secretion by CD4(+) T-cells was significantly enhanced in IFN-OFF patients (median 13.7% vs. healthy 7.8%, p = 0.01), and CD4+ effector and central memory cells were the main cytokine producers. No similar increase was observed in IFN-ON group (6.5%). In addition, the proportion of NK-cells was significantly increased in IFN-OFF patients (median IFN-OFF 24%, healthy 13%, p = 0.04), but their direct killing of K562 cells was impaired. The cytotoxicity of NK-cells was also diminished in IFN-ON patients. To conclude, in addition to elevated NK-cell count, IFN-OFF patients have increased amount of memory T-cells, which are able to induce strong cytokine response upon stimulation. This activity may contribute to the maintenance of prolonged remission after successful IFN-α discontinuation.

• MeSH
• buňky K562 MeSH
• buňky NK imunologie   metabolismus   patologie   MeSH
• chronická myeloidní leukemie krev   farmakoterapie   imunologie   patologie   MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• imunologická paměť účinky léků   MeSH
• imunologické faktory aplikace a dávkování   MeSH
• interferon alfa aplikace a dávkování   MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• počet CD4 lymfocytů MeSH
• Th1 buňky imunologie   metabolismus   patologie   MeSH
• Check Tag
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• klinické zkoušky MeSH
• multicentrická studie MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Názvy látek
• imunologické faktory MeSH
• interferon alfa MeSH

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a clonal myeloproliferative disorder of hematopoietic stem cells that has been recognized as a disease responsive to immunotherapy. Despite the huge success of the tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), CML remains for the most part incurable, probably due to treatment resistance of leukemic stem cells, which are responsible for rapid disease relapse after discontinuation of therapy. Only allogeneic stem cell transplantation enables disease eradication. In addition to the Bcr-Abl1 oncoprotein, TKIs also inhibit off-target kinases (e.g. c-kit, Src, Tec), some of them having physiological functions in immune responses. In vitro studies have implied immunomodulatory effects of TKIs and interferon-alpha (IFN-α), but comprehensive information from in vivo analyses is missing. This review summarizes the recent advances in the field of immunology of CML, including basic information about leukemia-associated antigens and peptide vaccines, that could lead to the incorporation of TKIs and IFN-α in future therapeutic, potentially curative, interventions for CML.

• MeSH
• antigeny nádorové chemie   imunologie   MeSH
• chronická myeloidní leukemie imunologie   terapie   MeSH
• imunitní systém účinky léků   imunologie   MeSH
• imunologické faktory terapeutické užití   MeSH
• imunoterapie MeSH
• inhibitory proteinkinas terapeutické užití   MeSH
• interferon alfa metabolismus   terapeutické užití   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• protinádorové vakcíny imunologie   terapeutické užití   MeSH
• signální transdukce účinky léků   MeSH
• subjednotkové vakcíny imunologie   terapeutické užití   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• přehledy MeSH
• Názvy látek
• antigeny nádorové MeSH
• imunologické faktory MeSH
• inhibitory proteinkinas MeSH
• interferon alfa MeSH
• protinádorové vakcíny MeSH
• subjednotkové vakcíny MeSH

We assessed long-term outcome of 118 consecutive patients in chronic phase of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) treated with interferon-alpha (IFN-α) in the Central and Northern Moravia region between 1989 and 2006 with focus on operational cure. The median follow-up was 82.6 months (range 12.4-212.6). Eighteen (15.3%) patients achieved complete cytogenetic response (CCyR) after median 16.7 (3.7-40.8) months. Nine of these patients (7.6%) achieved BCR-ABL negativity in nested reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction ["complete" molecular response (CMR)] and 6 of them have been operationally cured without any treatment for median 6 (4-10) years, while 2 continue with IFN-α and 1 died from CML-unrelated cause. Operationally cured patients had a significantly lower percentage of initial peripheral promyelocytes, blasts, and erythroblasts than the rest of patients treated for more than 12 months (P=0.01-0.03). Unlike patients with sole CCyR, the majority of whom lost CCyR despite continuing IFN-α therapy and required imatinib, patients who achieved CMR had excellent long-term outcome.

• MeSH
• analýza přežití MeSH
• antivirové látky aplikace a dávkování   škodlivé účinky   MeSH
• bcr-abl fúzové proteiny genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• chronická myeloidní leukemie farmakoterapie   mortalita   chirurgie   MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• interferon alfa aplikace a dávkování   škodlivé účinky   MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• molekulární patologie MeSH
• myeloidní progenitorové buňky účinky léků   patologie   MeSH
• nádorové biomarkery genetika   MeSH
• následné studie MeSH
• přežití po terapii bez příznaků nemoci MeSH
• výsledek terapie MeSH
• Check Tag
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika MeSH
• Názvy látek
• antivirové látky MeSH
• bcr-abl fúzové proteiny MeSH
• interferon alfa MeSH
• nádorové biomarkery MeSH