Bone marrow microenvironment boosts AML patients’ response to donor lymphocyte infusion
Differences in the bone marrow microenvironment may determine why some relapsed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients respond better to donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), according to a study published in Science Immunology. The study was led by first author Katie Maurer, MD, PhD, a physician-scientist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. DLI is successful in only about 15%-20% of patients with AML. Further, exactly how the cells in the DLI product help move leukemia into remission are not known, making it difficult for clinicians to improve the treatment. “Relapse of AML after stem cell transplant is a major challenge,” Dr. Maurer said in a press release published by Dana-Farber. “There are few effective therapies, and patient outcomes after relapse are poor.” Dr. Maurer and colleagues used single cell sequencing techniques to analyze the bone marrow of 25 AML patients with AML who had relapsed and been…
