HEMATOTHESIS

Development of a clinical leukaemia vaccine using dendritic cells loaded with the Wilms’ tumour (WT1) gene product

BJH - volume 3, issue 1, march 2012

A. Van Driessche PhD, MSc, V.F.I. Van Tendeloo PhD, MSc, Z.N. Berneman MD, PhD

Summary

Dendritic cell (DC)-based vaccination holds promise as an adjuvant immunotherapy for many cancers. The Wilms’ tumour (WT1) protein is overexpressed in most types of leukaemia and in many solid tumours. Therefore, WT1 could be regarded as a broadly applicable tumour-associated antigen in DC-based immunotherapy. In this thesis, we pursued the aim to enhance antileukemic immune response by the activation of WT1-specific T cells. We developed – from bench to bedside – a therapeutic vaccine of DC loaded with WT1 for patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).

(BELG J HEMATOL 2012;3:24–6)

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