Novel Immunotherapies for the treatment of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

CAR T-cell therapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors are groundbreaking immunotherapies with great promise for cancer treatment. CAR T-cell therapy uses engineered T-cells from the patient to help the immune system better identify and eliminate cancer cells. Immune checkpoint inhibitors for PD-1 and PD-L1 use monoclonal antibodies to block the PD-1/PD-L1 interaction that would otherwise allow cancer cells to go unnoticed by the immune system, continuing the growth of the cancer. For acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), CAR T-cell therapy has led to favorable responses, with the potential to induce complete remission. Conversely, the PD-1 and PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitors have not shown a significant effect on the disease. Though CAR T-cell therapy is an effective treatment for ALL, its accessibility is impacted by cost and lack of availability. With the initiation of further clinical trials, commercialized CAR T-cell therapy could become more widely available, thus lowering the cost of treatment, and increasing accessibility.