Immune Therapy Shows Early Promise for Advanced Leukemia, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Study

An experimental therapy that targets the immune system might offer a new way to treat an often deadly form of adult leukemia, a preliminary study suggests. The research involved only five adults with recurrent B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a cancer of the blood and bone marrow. ALL progresses quickly, and patients can die within weeks if untreated. The typical first treatment is three separate phases of chemotherapy drugs.