Abstract
Patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) often relapse after initial therapy because of persistence of leukemic stem cells that frequently express the IL-3 receptor alpha chain CD123. Natural killer (NK) cell-based therapeutic strategies for AML show promise and we explore the NK cell lines, NK-92 and CD16+ NK-92, as a treatment for AML. NK-92 has been tested in phase I clinical trials with minimal toxicity; irradiation prior to infusion prevents risk of engraftment. The CD16 negative NK-92 parental line was genetically modified to express the high affinity Fc gamma receptor, enabling antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity, which we utilized in combination with an anti-CD123 antibody to target leukemic stem cells. NK-92 was preferentially cytotoxic against leukemic stem and progenitor cells compared with bulk leukemia in in vitro assays, while CD16+ NK-92 in combination with an anti-CD123 mAb mediated antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity against CD123+ leukemic targets. Furthermore, NK-92 infusions (with or without prior irradiation) improved survival in a primary AML xenograft model. Mice xenografted with primary human AML cells had a superior survival when treated with irradiated CD16+NK-92 cells and an anti-CD123 monoclonal antibody (7G3) versus treatment with irradiated CD16+NK-92 cells combined with an isotype control antibody. In this proof-of-principle study, we show for the first time that a CD16+NK-92 cell line combined with an antibody that targets a leukemic stem cell antigen can lead to improved survival in a relevant pre-clinical model of AML.