Blood
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BLT1 is a high-affinity receptor for leukotriene B4 (LTB4) that is a potent lipid chemoattractant for myeloid leukocytes. The role of LTB4/BLT1 axis in tumor immunology, including cytokine-based tumor vaccine, however, remains unknown. We here demonstrated that BLT1-deficient mice rejected subcutaneous tumor challenge of GM-CSF gene-transduced WEHI3B (WGM) leukemia cells (KO/WGM) and elicited robust antitumor responses against second tumor challenge with WEHI3B cells. ⋯ Furthermore, KO/WGM mice displayed activated adaptive immunity by attenuating regulatory CD4(+) T subsets and increasing numbers of Th17 and memory CD44(hi)CD4(+) T subsets, both of which elicited superior antitumor effects as evidenced by adoptive cell transfer. In vivo depletion assays also revealed that CD4(+) T cells were the main effectors of the persistent antitumor immunity. Our data collectively underscore a negative role of LTB4/BLT1 signaling in effective generation and maintenance of GM-CSF-induced antitumor memory CD4(+) T cells.
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In this issue of Blood, Siegel and colleagues report that the next-generation proteasome inhibitor carfilzomib, when administered as a single agent, can produce meaningful disease control in heavily pretreated patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.(1)
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In this issue of Blood, Brennan et al report that a noninfectious damage-associated molecular pattern (DAMP), heparan sulfate (HS),(1) aggravates graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and that this enhanced severity can be dampened by administration of serine protease inhibitor α-1 antitrysin (AAT).(2)
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In this issue of Blood, Iland et al report that the addition of arsenic trioxide during induction and consolidation can substantially reduce the amount of chemotherapy and the duration of consolidation to achieve excellent outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL; see figure).