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Immunology

Allogeneic dendritic cells pulsed with tumor lysates or apoptotic bodies as immunotherapy for patients with early-stage B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Leukemia volume 19, pages 1621–1627 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

Recently, immunotherapies with allogeneic dendritic cells (DCs) pulsed with tumor antigens to generate specific T-cell responses have been tested in clinical trials for patients with solid tumors. This is the first report on a clinical vaccination study with DCs for patients with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL). The potential of allogeneic DCs pulsed ex vivo with tumor cell lysates or apoptotic bodies to stimulate antitumor immunity in patients with B-CLL in early stages was evaluated. Monocyte-derived DCs were obtained from unrelated healthy donors. Nine patients (clinical stage 0 and 1 according to Rai) were vaccinated five times with a mean number of 32 × 106 stimulated DCs administered intradermally once every 2–3 weeks. No signs of autoimmunity were detected, and only mild local skin reactions were noted. During the treatment period, we observed a decrease of peripheral blood leukocytes and CD19+/CD5+ leukemic cells. In one patient, a significant increase of specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes against RHAMM/CD168, a recently characterized leukemia-associated antigen, could be detected after DC vaccination. Taken together, the study demonstrated that DC vaccination in CLL patients is feasible and safe. Immunological and to some extent hematological responses could be noted, justifying further investigation on this immunotherapeutical approach.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Ms Marlies Götz for taking care of the manuscript. This work was supported by grants from the State Committee for Scientific Research (Poland) KBN 3PO5B 134 23 and KBN 2PO5B 119 27.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hematology Department, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland

    I Hus & A Dmoszyńska

  2. Clinical Immunology Department, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland

    J Roliński, J Tabarkiewicz, K Wojas, A Bojarska-Junak & K Giannopoulos

  3. Third Department of Internal Medicine, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany

    J Greiner, K Giannopoulos & M Schmitt

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  1. I Hus
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Correspondence to M Schmitt.

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Hus, I., Roliński, J., Tabarkiewicz, J. et al. Allogeneic dendritic cells pulsed with tumor lysates or apoptotic bodies as immunotherapy for patients with early-stage B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Leukemia 19, 1621–1627 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2403860

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