T cell receptor gene therapy targeting WT1 prevents acute myeloid leukemia relapse post-transplant

AG Chapuis, DN Egan, M Bar, TM Schmitt… - Nature medicine, 2019 - nature.com
AG Chapuis, DN Egan, M Bar, TM Schmitt, MS McAfee, KG Paulson, V Voillet, R Gottardo
Nature medicine, 2019nature.com
Relapse after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is the leading cause of
death in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) entering HCT with poor-risk features,–.
When HCT does produce prolonged relapse-free survival, it commonly reflects graft-versus-
leukemia effects mediated by donor T cells reactive with antigens on leukemic cells. As graft
T cells have not been selected for leukemia specificity and frequently recognize proteins
expressed by many normal host tissues, graft-versus-leukemia effects are often …
Abstract
Relapse after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is the leading cause of death in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) entering HCT with poor-risk features, –. When HCT does produce prolonged relapse-free survival, it commonly reflects graft-versus-leukemia effects mediated by donor T cells reactive with antigens on leukemic cells. As graft T cells have not been selected for leukemia specificity and frequently recognize proteins expressed by many normal host tissues, graft-versus-leukemia effects are often accompanied by morbidity and mortality from graft-versus-host disease. Thus, AML relapse risk might be more effectively reduced with T cells expressing receptors (TCRs) that target selected AML antigens. We therefore isolated a high-affinity Wilms’ Tumor Antigen 1-specific TCR (TCRC4) from HLA-A2+ normal donor repertoires, inserted TCRC4 into Epstein–Bar virus-specific donor CD8+ T cells (TTCR-C4) to minimize graft-versus-host disease risk and enhance transferred T cell survival,, and infused these cells prophylactically post-HCT into 12 patients (NCT01640301). Relapse-free survival was 100% at a median of 44 months following infusion, while a concurrent comparative group of 88 patients with similar risk AML had 54% relapse-free survival (P = 0.002). TTCR-C4 maintained TCRC4 expression, persisted long-term and were polyfunctional. This strategy appears promising for preventing AML recurrence in individuals at increased risk of post-HCT relapse.
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