Why combine Gleevec and IL-2?
Experiments on animals led to the hypothesis that the Gleevec + IL-2 combination would not only contribute fourfold to the production of IKDCs but would also boost their activity in the body. IL-2, which is a growth factor commonly used in immunotherapy, would facilitate the migration of IKDCs to the tumor sites, while Gleevec would stimulate the communication between dendritic cells and some lymphocytes called “NK cells” or “Natural Killer cells,” making them capable of killing cancer cells. NK cells are naturally triggered by dendritic cells which stimulate the immune system. The activation of NK entails the secretion of IFN-γ and therefore facilitates the decline of the tumor. In 2004, scientists observed in GIST patients that NK cell activation during Gleevec treatment was a predictive factor for an objective tumor response to Gleevec and was often correlated to a longer time to progression. About 60 percent of the Gleevec-treated GIST patients, with various exon mutation profiles,
