International Journal of Hematology

, Volume 96, Issue 1, pp 1–9 | Cite as

Biological therapy and the immune system in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia

Review Article
First Online:
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:

Abstract

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.

Keywords

Chronic myeloid leukemia Leukemia-associated antigens Tyrosine kinase inhibitors Interferon-alpha Immunomodulation 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic (Grant NT12218), by the Student Project LF_2012_007 of Palacky University Olomouc.

Conflict of interest

None.

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Copyright information

© The Japanese Society of Hematology 2012

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.University HospitalOlomoucCzech Republic

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