Altered T Cell Subsets And Function In Patients With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Introduction: Blinatumomab is a bispecific antibody approved for the use in adults with relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) but only about 50% of patients respond. A few brief reports have suggested that differences in T cell subsets between responders and non-responders may contribute to the failure of blinatumomab, however our understanding of the immune microenvironment in ALL is still in its infancy. We hypothesize response may be related to an immunosuppressive T cell microenvironment and in this project sought to define this microenvironment using both phenotypic and functional assays.