Identification of NM23-H2 as a tumour-associated antigen in chronic myeloid leukaemia.

Therapeutic effects of haematopoietic stem cell transplantation are not limited to maximal chemoradiotherapy and subsequent bone marrow regeneration, but include specific as well as unspecific immune reactions known as graft-versus-leukaemia (GvL) effects. Specific immune reactions are likely to be particularly relevant to the long-term treatment of diseases, such as chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), in which residual cells may remain quiescent and unresponsive to cytotoxic and molecular therapies for long periods of time. Specific GvL effects result from the expression on leukaemic cells of specific tumour-associated antigens (TAAs) in the context of HLA proteins. As human leukocyte antigen…