Gamma Delta T Cells in AML

Overview

The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust is committed to improving patient experience; this research is being undertaken to try to develop a novel treatment for patients with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML). Researchers aim to develop a new therapy which uses a patient's own immune cells called T cells to treat AML. In this study, numbers and properties of T cells which can be collected from the blood of patients with AML at various points throughout their treatment will be investigated. Blood samples will be collected at the same time as the patient's bone marrow test. If patients need further bone marrow tests during their course of treatment to assess the status of disease, the research team would ask that additional samples are taken at the same time as the bone marrow and blood will be collected at the same time as the routine blood draw. Following collection of blood samples, they will be used to purify a population of blood cells called Gamma Delta T cells which have been shown to have a potential role in control of cancers. In addition the researchers plan to determine whether it is possible to put a novel receptor called a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) to potentially directly target leukaemia cells. Currently this is only an exploratory study and none of the samples collected will be used for treatment and is only to assess whether or not this strategy is feasible. This may however lead on to studies in the future looking at the safety and effectiveness of this strategy. This hopefully will lead in the future to improvements in treatment and outcome for patients with AML. If patients need further bone marrow tests during their course of treatment to assess the status of disease, the research team would ask that additional samples are taken at the same time as the bone marrow and blood will be collected at the same time as the routine blood draw. Following collection of blood samples, they will be used to purify a population of blood cells called Gamma Delta T cells which have been shown to have a potential role in control of cancers. In addition the researchers plan to determine whether it is possible to put a novel receptor called a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) to potentially directly target leukaemia cells. Currently this is only an exploratory study and none of the samples collected will be used for treatment and is only to assess whether or not this strategy is feasible. This may however lead on to studies in the future looking at the safety and effectiveness of this strategy. This hopefully will lead in the future to improvements in treatment and outcome for patients with AML.