Understanding the Mechanism of Cure of Acute Myeloid Leukemia by Allogeneic Bone Marrow Transplantation: Toward the Application of Interleukin-2 in Autologous Bone Marrow Transplantation

Analysis of the results of different methods of post remission therapy in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has been used to study their impact on outcome, with a particular emphasis on antileukemic effects by contrasting the risk of relapse. We have compared consolidation chemotherapy (CT), autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT) with and without subsequent interleukin-2 (IL-2) and allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Additionally we have studied the immunological consequences of each of these maneuvers with particular regard to the cellular components having proven or suspected antileukemic properties and the secondary cytokines released by these cells in vitro and in vivo.