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The following is a summary of “Decade-long WT1-specific CTLs induced by WT1 peptide vaccination,” published in the March 2024 issue of Hematology by Suwabe et al.
Researchers started a retrospective study investigating the long-term persistence and functionality of Wilms’ tumor 1 (WT1) -specific CD8+ cytotoxic T cell (CTL) following WT1 peptide vaccination for hematological malignancies.
They administered the WT1 peptide vaccine to a patient with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) in the chronic phase, who had inadequate response to imatinib, with documented consent. The patient was monitored for 12 years post-vaccination. Immunity was observed by amplifying WT1-specific CTLs using a mixed lymphocyte peptide culture. T-cell receptors (TCRs) of amplified WT1-specific CTLs were analyzed through next-generation sequencing.
The results showed that WT1-specific CTLs, initially identified during WT1 peptide vaccination, remained at a frequency of less than 5 cells per 1,000,000 CD8+ T cells for over a decade. TCR repertoire analysis verified the diversity of WT1-specific CTLs 11 years post-vaccination. In vitro, CTLs demonstrated WT1 peptide-specific cytotoxicity.
Investigators concluded that the WT1 peptide vaccine elicited a durable immune response lasting over a decade in a CML patient, even after the vaccinations stopped.
Source: link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12185-024-03723-1
