Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a major form of acute leukemia in elder adults. The treatment of AML has changed little in the past decades and the overall 5-year survival rate remains very poor in the AML patients. AML relapsed from chemotherapy is highly aggressive with poor prognosis. While adaptive cell therapy via chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-expressing T cells is quite successful for treating acute and chronic lymphoblastic leukemia by targeting CD19, this approach has not yet been extensively explored for AML.

Using Sequential Tumor-selated Antibody and antigen Retrieving (STAR) technology Dr. Hua, MD, PhD at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School and his team have identified unique nanobodies that were able to effectively target CAR-T cell to eliminate AML cells in animal models. 

• Nanobodies show high affinity and low immunogenicity in humans
• Nanobodies have small size (12-15 kDa)
• Capable of recognizing uncommon or hidden epitopes
• Able to bind into cavities or active sites of protein targets

• CAR-T cell therapies for AML
• Antibody-drug conjugates targeting AML cells
• Potential use for AML diagnosis, treatment monitoring, and imaging