The role of blinatumomab in patients with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

ABSTRACT: Adults with relapsed/refractory B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have a complete remission (CR) rate of 20-45% and median overall survival of 3-9 months, depending on the duration of the first remission and number of lines of salvage therapy. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloHSCT) is the only curative option for adult patients with relapsed/refractory ALL, and achievement of CR is a crucial step before alloHSCT. Blinatumomab is a bispecific T-cell engager (BiTE®) antibody construct with dual specificity for CD19 and CD3, simultaneously binding CD3-positive cytotoxic T cells and CD19-positive B cells, resulting in T-cell-mediated serial lysis of normal and malignant B cells. It recently gained accelerated approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for t

SUBMITTER: Benjamin JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4872177 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature