In this study 12 acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) patients (3 in 1<SUP>st</SUP> complete remission (CR), 3 in 2<SUP>nd</SUP> CR, 3 in early relapse or partial remission and 3 in frank relapse) were treated with continuous infusion of recombinant Interleukin-2 (rIL-2). Adverse reactions among these patients were common. In all patients, there were evidence of lymphocyte activation with subsequent upregulation of the cellular cytotoxic functions following the infusion of rIL-2. Despite this, clinical response among patients treated with active disease remains disappointing, with only 1 patient achieving a 3<SUP>rd</SUP> complete remission after being treated in early 2<SUP>nd</SUP> relapse (marrow blast counts of 10%). The other patients had brief periods of stable disease but died eventually of disease progression. No conclusion however can be drawn from patients treated in complete remission due to the small number of patients entered into the study. In vitro studies were performed in a different cohort of AML patients, at presentation and during complete remission. In all the patients, both the Natural Killer (NK) and Lectin-Dependent Cellular Cytotoxicity (LDCC) activities were significantly reduced when compared to normal healthy controls. Patients in complete remission however had higher values than those studied during active diseases. These findings would suggest a strong rationale for the use of immunotherapy capable of upregulating the NK and LDCC activities, e.g. rIL-2. Further rationale for the use of immunotherapy has been drawn from the findings that leukaemia blast cells of AML are immunogenic, as evidenced by data of T cell activation in these patients and the presence of complement-fixing antibodies for autologous myeloblasts. More importantly no stimulation of the myeloblast proliferation by IL-2 was observed in any of the myeloblasts studied. All these findings would point to a good and safe rationale for the use of rIL-2 in AML patients.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:484307 |
| Date | January 1991 |
| Creators | Lim, Seah-Hooi |
| Publisher | University of Aberdeen |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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