Immune-Based Therapeutic Interventions for Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an aggressive, clonally heterogeneous, myeloid malignancy, with a 5-year overall survival of approximately 27%. It constitutes the most common acute leukemia in adults, with an incidence of 3-5 cases per 100,000 in the United States. Despite great advances in understanding the molecular mechanisms underpinning leukemogenesis, the past several decades had seen little change to the backbone of therapy, comprised of an anthracycline-based induction regimen for those who are fit enough to receive it, followed by risk-stratified post-remission therapy with consolidation cytarabine or allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT). Allo-SCT is the most fundamental form of immunotherapy in which donor cytotoxic T and NK cells recognize and eradicate residual AML in the graft-versus-leukemia (GvL) effect. Building on that, several alternative or synergistic approaches to exploit both self and foreign immunity against AML have been developed. Checkpoint inhibitors, for example, CTLA-4 inhibitors, PD-1 inhibitors, and PD-L1 inhibitors block proteins found on T cells or cancer cells that stop the immune system from attacking the cancer cells. They have been used with limited success in both the AML relapsed/refractory (R/R) and post SCT settings. AML tumor mutational burden is low compared to solid tumors and thus, it is less likely to generate neoantigens and respond to antibody-mediated checkpoint blockade that has shown unprecedented results in solid tumors. Therefore, alternative therapeutic strategies that work independently of the T cell receptor (TCR) specificity have been developed. They include bispecific antibodies, which recruit T cells through CD3 engagement, and in AML have shown an overall response rate ranging between 14 and 30% in early phase trials. Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cell therapy is a type of treatment in which T cells are genetically engineered to produce a recombinant receptor that redirects the specificity and function of T lymphocytes. However, lack of cell surface targets exclusively expressed on AML cells including Leukemic Stem Cells (LSCs) combined with clonal heterogeneity represents the biggest challenge in developing CAR therapy for AML. Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADC) constitute the only FDA-approved immunotherapy to treat AML with Gemtuzumab Ozogamicin, a CD33-specific ADC used in CEBPα-mutated AML. The identification of additional cell surface targets is critical for the development of other ADC's potentially useful in the induction and maintenance regimens, given the ease at which these reagents can be generated and managed. Here, we will review those immune-based therapeutic interventions and highlight active areas of research investigations toward fulfillment of the great promise of immunotherapy to AML.