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. 2015 Aug;62(8):1468-72.
doi: 10.1002/pbc.25555. Epub 2015 Apr 30.

Natural killer cell therapy in children with relapsed leukemia

Jeffrey E Rubnitz  1   2 , Hiroto Inaba  1   2 , Guolian Kang  3 , Kwan Gan  4 , Christine Hartford  4   2 , Brandon M Triplett  4   2 , Mari Dallas  4   2 , David Shook  4   2 , Tanja Gruber  1   2 , Ching-Hon Pui  1   5   2 , Wing Leung  4   2
Affiliations

Natural killer cell therapy in children with relapsed leukemia

Jeffrey E Rubnitz et al. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2015 Aug.

Abstract

Background: Novel therapies are needed for children with relapsed or refractory leukemia. We therefore tested the safety and feasibility of haploidentical natural killer cell therapy in this patient population.

Procedure: Twenty-nine children who had relapsed or refractory leukemia were treated with chemotherapy followed by the infusion of haploidentical NK cells. Cohort 1 included 14 children who had not undergone prior allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), whereas Cohort 2 included 15 children with leukemia that had relapsed after HCT.

Results: Twenty-six (90%) NK donors were KIR mismatched (14 with one KIR and 12 with 2 KIRs). The peak NK chimerism levels were >10% donor in 87% of the evaluable recipients. In Cohort 1, 10 had responsive disease and 12 proceeded to HCT thereafter. Currently, 5 (36%) are alive without leukemia. In Cohort 2, 10 had responsive disease after NK therapy and successfully proceeded to second HCT. At present, 4 (27%) are alive and leukemia-free. The NK cell infusions and the IL-2 injections were well-tolerated.

Conclusions: NK cell therapy is safe, feasible, and should be further investigated in patients with chemotherapy-resistant leukemia.

Keywords: NK cell; cell therapy; childhood leukemia; relapse.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure of Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Survival probability after NK cell therapy and HCT.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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