In 2017, three groundbreaking immunotherapies for relapsed and/or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) were approved based on impressive outcomes observed in clinical trials. Additional breakthroughs included seminal research into ALL genomics and the importance of adherence to chemotherapy, which will have direct implications for clinical care.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Kantarjian, H. M. et al. Inotuzumab ozogamicin versus standard therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. N. Engl. J. Med. 375, 740–753 (2016).
Kantarjian, H. M. et al. Hepatic adverse event profile of inotuzumab ozogamicin in adult patients with relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: results from the open-label, randomised, phase 3 INO-VATE study. Lancet Haematol. 4, e387–e398 (2017).
Kantarjian, H. et al. Blinatumomab versus chemotherapy for advanced acute lymphoblastic leukemia. N. Engl. J. Med. 376, 836–847 (2017).
von Stackelberg, A. et al. Phase I/phase II study of blinatumomab in pediatric patients with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia. J. Clin. Oncol. 34, 4381–4389 (2016).
Martiinelli, G. et al. Complete molecular and hematologic response in adult patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) Philadelphia chromosome-positive B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) following treatment with blinatumomab: results from a phase 2 single-arm, multicenter study (ALCANTARA) [abstract]. Blood 126, 679 (2015).
Boechner, J. et al. Global registration trial of efficacy and safety of CTL019 in pediatric and young adult patients with relapsed/refractory (r/r) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL): update to the interim analysis. Haematologica 102, S476 (2017).
Teachey, D. T. et al. Identification of predictive biomarkers for cytokine release syndrome after chimeric antigen receptor t-cell therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Cancer Discov. 6, 664–679 (2016).
Qasim, W. et al. Molecular remission of infant B-ALL after infusion of universal TALEN gene-edited CAR T cells. Sci. Transl Med. 9, eaaj2013 (2017).
Liu, Y. et al. The genomic landscape of pediatric and young adult T-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Nat. Genet. 49, 1211–1218 (2017).
Landier, W. et al. Mercaptopurine ingestion habits, red cell thioguanine nucleotide levels, and relapse risk in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a report from the Children's Oncology Group Study AALL03N1. J. Clin. Oncol. 35, 1730–1736 (2017).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
D.T.T. has served on an advisory board for Amgen and received research funding from Novartis. S.P.H. owns stock in Amgen, Merck, and Pfizer, and has received honoraria from Amgen, Erytech, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, and Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, and consulting fees from Novartis.
PowerPoint slides
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Teachey, D., Hunger, S. Immunotherapy for ALL takes the world by storm. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 15, 69–70 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2017.176
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2017.176
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
Biological basis for novel mesothelioma therapies
British Journal of Cancer (2021)
-
Anti-CD7 CAR T cells for T-ALL: impressive early-stage efficacy
Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology (2021)
-
Network-based systems pharmacology reveals heterogeneity in LCK and BCL2 signaling and therapeutic sensitivity of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Nature Cancer (2021)
-
Grading of cytokine release syndrome associated with the CAR T cell therapy tisagenlecleucel
Journal of Hematology & Oncology (2018)