The putative anti-leukemic effects of anti-thymocyte globulins in patients with CD7-positive acute myeloid leukemia

Kiyosumi Ochi, Shigeo Fuji, Kuniko Takano, Kinuko Tajima, Ayumu Ito, Takashi Tanaka, Yoshihiro Inamoto, Saiko Kurosawa, Sung Won Kim, Arinobu Tojo, Takahiro Fukuda

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Polyclonal anti-thymocyte globulins (ATGs) are widely used in allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) for GvHD prophylaxis. ATGs exerted anti-tumor effects in in vitro experiments, but in vivo studies are lacking. We experienced a case of relapsed AML with cells positive for CD7 who underwent haploidentical SCT and unexpectedly achieved a significant reduction of AML cells in the peripheral blood after receiving ATGs before the administration of other drugs in the conditioning regimen. This patient achieved long-term survival after haploidentical SCT. To assess the impact of ATGs on clinical outcomes in patients with AML, we performed a retrospective analysis of allo-SCT for relapsed/refractory AML and divided 132 patients into four groups according to the expression of CD7 in AML cells and use of ATGs as part of the conditioning regimen, as follows: CD7-positive ATG group (n = 15), CD7-positive no-ATG group (n = 32), CD7-negative ATG group (n = 19), and CD7-negative no-ATG group (n = 66). The overall survival rates in the CD7-positive ATG group were significantly higher than those in the CD7-positive no-ATG group, whereas these rates did not differ statistically between the CD7-negative ATG and CD7-negative no-ATG groups. Our results indicate a possible anti-leukemic effect of ATGs against CD7-positive AML in humans.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1019-1029
Number of pages11
JournalBone Marrow Transplantation
Volume53
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01-08-2018
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Hematology
  • Transplantation

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