{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,24]],"date-time":"2026-08-24T10:34:22Z","timestamp":1787567662171,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"17","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,23]],"date-time":"2026-08-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787443200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"University Hospital of Munich"},{"name":"University Hospital of Augsburg"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Cancers"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Novel (immune) therapies are needed to stabilize the disease or achieve remissions in AML. We already demonstrated that DCleus can be generated ex vivo from AML patients\u2019 blasts in WB using approved drugs (GM-CSF and PGE-1 (Kit-M) or GM-CSF and Picibanil (OK-432), Kit-I). The generated DCleus induce antileukemia-directed immune cells of the adaptive and innate immune system, enabling leukemia-specific immune activation after MLC. Methods: We compared the effects of Kit-I vs. Kit-M by quantifying (1) their potential to produce DCs\/DCleus from WB samples from 6 healthy individuals and 28 AML patients\u2019 WB in different stages of the disease and (2) the activation of adaptive and innate leukemia-specific IFN\u03b3-producing or degranulating antileukemic cells after MLC with and without Kit-I\/Kit-M-pretreated WB. Furthermore, we correlated the obtained results with the achieved improved cells\u2019 antileukemic functionality and patients\u2019 clinical data. Results: In AML samples we found significantly higher frequencies of (mature) DCleus generable without induction of blast proliferation in Kit-M as well as (although less pronounced) in Kit-I-treated vs. untreated samples, a significant increase in the frequency of (leukemia- specific) immunoreactive cells, and improved blast cytotoxicity after MLC with Kit-M and with Kit-I-treated vs. untreated samples (potentially with higher induction of CD4 and CIK IFN\u03b3 + cells in Kit-I-pretreated samples). These data might suggest that both Kits work via different pathways. Conclusions: We show that Kit-M and Kit-I produce DCs\/DCleus and subsequently enhance (potentially via a different mode of action) antileukemic immune cell activation after MLC. Our findings point to a possibility to enhance antileukemic treatment in vivo by combining agents or identifying criteria for selecting an appropriate agent (combination) for the respective patient in the course of a personalized treatment strategy.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/cancers18172729","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,24]],"date-time":"2026-08-24T09:20:02Z","timestamp":1787563202000},"page":"2729","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Comparative Evaluation of Kit-M (GM-CSF and PGE-1) and Kit-I (GM-CSF and Picibanil) for the Generation of DCs\/DCleus and Their Impact on Subsequent Antileukemic Immune Cell Activation Ex Vivo"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Diana","family":"Deen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine III, University Hospital of Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, 81377 Munich, Germany"},{"name":"Bavarian Cancer Research Center (BZKF), 86156 Augsburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Olga","family":"Schutti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine III, University Hospital of Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, 81377 Munich, Germany"},{"name":"Bavarian Cancer Research Center (BZKF), 86156 Augsburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tobias","family":"Baudrexler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine III, University Hospital of Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, 81377 Munich, Germany"},{"name":"Bavarian Cancer Research Center (BZKF), 86156 Augsburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5331-0884","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Daniel Christoph","family":"Amberger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"First Department for Medicine, Paracelsus Medical University, 5020 Salzburg, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Caroline","family":"Plett","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine III, University Hospital of Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, 81377 Munich, Germany"},{"name":"Bavarian Cancer Research Center (BZKF), 86156 Augsburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8560-7447","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lara","family":"Klauer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine III, University Hospital of Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, 81377 Munich, Germany"},{"name":"Bavarian Cancer Research Center (BZKF), 86156 Augsburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Joerg","family":"Schmohl","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Hematology, Diakonie Hospital, 70176 Stuttgart, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peter","family":"Bojko","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Haematology and Oncology, Red Cross Hospital of Munich, 80634 Munich, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Doris","family":"Kraemer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"St. Josefs-Hospital, 58097 Hagen, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andreas","family":"Rank","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Bavarian Cancer Research Center (BZKF), 86156 Augsburg, Germany"},{"name":"Department of Haematology and Oncology, University Hospital of Augsburg, 86156 Augsburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Helga","family":"Schmetzer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine III, University Hospital of Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, 81377 Munich, Germany"},{"name":"St. Josefs-Hospital, 58097 Hagen, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1673","DOI":"10.1182\/blood.2023022244","article-title":"Gemtuzumab Ozogamicin in Aml: The Next Chapter","volume":"142","year":"2023","journal-title":"Blood"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1345","DOI":"10.1182\/blood.2022016867","article-title":"Diagnosis and Management of Aml in Adults: 2022 Recommendations from an International Expert Panel on Behalf of the Eln","volume":"140","author":"Wei","year":"2022","journal-title":"Blood"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1630","DOI":"10.1182\/blood-2019-01-894980","article-title":"Management of Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia: Updated Recommendations from an Expert Panel of the European 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