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The putative anti-leukemic effects of anti-thymocyte globulins in patients with CD7-positive acute myeloid leukemia

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 53, pages 1019–1029 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

Polyclonal anti-thymocyte globulins (ATGs) are widely used in allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) for GvHD prophylaxis. ATGs exerted anti-tumor effects in in vitro experiments, but in vivo studies are lacking. We experienced a case of relapsed AML with cells positive for CD7 who underwent haploidentical SCT and unexpectedly achieved a significant reduction of AML cells in the peripheral blood after receiving ATGs before the administration of other drugs in the conditioning regimen. This patient achieved long-term survival after haploidentical SCT. To assess the impact of ATGs on clinical outcomes in patients with AML, we performed a retrospective analysis of allo-SCT for relapsed/refractory AML and divided 132 patients into four groups according to the expression of CD7 in AML cells and use of ATGs as part of the conditioning regimen, as follows: CD7-positive ATG group (n = 15), CD7-positive no-ATG group (n = 32), CD7-negative ATG group (n = 19), and CD7-negative no-ATG group (n = 66). The overall survival rates in the CD7-positive ATG group were significantly higher than those in the CD7-positive no-ATG group, whereas these rates did not differ statistically between the CD7-negative ATG and CD7-negative no-ATG groups. Our results indicate a possible anti-leukemic effect of ATGs against CD7-positive AML in humans.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the National Cancer Research and Development Fund.

Author contributions

KO and SF conceived and designed the study, analyzed the data, and wrote the manuscript; KT managed the patients; KT performed the statistical analysis; AI, TT, YI, SK, S-WK, AT, and TF managed the patients and reviewed the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan

    Kiyosumi Ochi, Shigeo Fuji, Kuniko Takano, Kinuko Tajima, Ayumu Ito, Takashi Tanaka, Yoshihiro Inamoto, Saiko Kurosawa, Sung-Won Kim & Takahiro Fukuda

  2. Department of Hematology/Oncology, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Kiyosumi Ochi & Arinobu Tojo

  3. Department of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Faculty of Medicine, Oita University, Oita, Japan

    Kuniko Takano

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  1. Kiyosumi Ochi
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Correspondence to Shigeo Fuji.

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Ochi, K., Fuji, S., Takano, K. et al. The putative anti-leukemic effects of anti-thymocyte globulins in patients with CD7-positive acute myeloid leukemia. Bone Marrow Transplant 53, 1019–1029 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41409-018-0115-7

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