[Clinical Study of Dendritic Cell Vaccine as Maintenance Therapy for Acute Myeloid Leukemia].

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the safety of genetically modified dendritic cell (gmDC) vaccine as maintenance therapy in patients with favorable-risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and its long-term efficacy.

METHODS

A retrospective cohort study of patients with favorable-risk AML treated at the Fifth Medical Center of Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital from January 2013 to December 2023 was conducted. All patients achieved minimal residual disease (MRD) negativity after consolidation chemotherapy or autologous stem cell transplantation. Among them, 27 patients who received gmDC vaccine maintenance therapy were enrolled in the gmDC group, and 30 patients who received no maintenance therapy served as the control group during the same period. The study endpoints were safety, overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR).

RESULTS

The median follow-up of the patients was 41 months, all adverse events in the gmDC group were grade 1, and no grade ≥3 events occurred. The 3-year OS rate was 100% in the gmDC group, which was significantly higher than 76.9% in the control group (P <0.05). The 3-year PFS rate was 81.3% in the gmDC group, which was higher than 73.3% in the control group (P >0.05), showing a trend toward improvement that did not reach statistical significance. The 3-year CIR was 18.7% in the gmDC group, which was lower than 23.3% in the control group (P >0.05), showing a decreasing trend without statistical significance.

CONCLUSION

In patients with favorable-risk AML, gmDC vaccine maintenance therapy demonstrates a favorable safety profile and significantly improves 3-year OS, but no significant improvement is observed in 3-year PFS and CIR.