Immunologic consequences of chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia

There are few data characterizing the immunologic consequences of chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and almost nothing is known about the effects of chemotherapy in a pediatric AML cohort. We identified T-cell subsets, B-cell subsets, and used Enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot analyses to define the function of T cells and B cells in 7 pediatric patients with AML on chemotherapy. The data show that the effects of chemotherapy disproportionately target the B cell and depletion of B cells is associated with impaired responses to the inactivated influenza vaccine. Diminished T-cell numbers were also observed although the magnitude of the effect was less than what was seen for B cells. Furthermore, measures of T-cell function were largely intact. We conclude that humoral immunity is significantly affected by chemotherapy for AML.