INTRODUCTION
Relapsed/refractory paediatric T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia
(T-ALL) is an aggressive, often chemo-resistant, malignancy associated
with survival rates of less than 25%.1 There are few
options for salvage therapy with significant short and long-term
toxicities.2 In striking contrast to B-cell
malignancies, there are yet to be well-established immunotherapy agents
developed for the treatment of T-ALL. The challenges of developing such
targeted agents lie in the heterogeneity of T-ALL blast cells on a
molecular level.3,4 First identified in 1980, the
transmembrane glycoprotein CD38, expressed on the surface of thymocytes
and activated T-cells, has more recently emerged as a promising
target.5,6 The stability of this glycoprotein’s
expression despite exposure to cytotoxic chemotherapy, favours its
profile as a potential target in T-ALL.7 Here we
describe our experience of a patient with refractory T-ALL who received
daratumumab, an anti-CD38 antibody.