Prospects for immunotherapy of acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is diagnosed in approximately 100 000 people worldwide per year and 70% of the patients are children. Most children have a good prognosis, as almost 80% will be cured, however only 30% of adults are cured. Additionally, the current chemotherapies have long- lasting and severe side-effects. These findings indicate that the search for better and safer treatment modalities for ALL is still important. As leukemia directly affects the human immune cells, immunotherapeutic approaches have long been ignored as treatment options for this disease. However, increased knowledge of the immune system has opened new opportunities for immune modulation that could be of benefit to leukemia patients. Several recent advances towards immunotherapy of ALL will be discussed.