Outcomes following posttransplant virus-specific T-cell therapy in patients with sickle cell disease.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is being increasingly used as a curative approach for sickle cell disease (SCD). With the risk of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), especially in the human leukocyte antigen-mismatched donors, intense immunosuppression is required leading to an increased risk of viral infection. Post-HSCT, adoptive transfer of virus-specific T-cell (VST) therapies have not been well-studied in patients with SCD.

Identification of novel HLA-restricted preferentially expressed antigen in melanoma peptides to facilitate off-the-shelf tumor-associated antigen-specific T-cell therapies.

Background Aims: Preferentially expressed antigen in melanoma (PRAME) is a cancer/testis antigen that is overexpressed in many human malignancies and poorly expressed or absent in healthy tissues, making it a good target for anti-cancer immunotherapy. Development of an effective off-the-shelf adoptive T-cell therapy for patients with relapsed or refractory solid tumors and hematological malignancies expressing PRAME antigen requires the identification of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I and II PRAME antigens recognized by the tumor-associated antigen (TAA) T-cell product. The authors therefore set out to extend the repertoire of HLA-restricted PRAME peptide epitopes beyond the few already characterized.