Overcoming Drug Resistance Of Pre-B All Cells By Targeting Integrin Alpha6 Associated Cell-Adhesion Mediated Drug Resistance Using A Novel Antibody, P5g10

Background. The presence of chemotherapy-resistant cells can be detected in the bone marrow (BM) and peripheral blood (PB) and is called minimal residual disease (MRD). The exact mechanism for cell adhesion-mediated drug resistance leading to MRD and how to therapeutically target MRD is unsolved.Integrin alpha-6 (alpha6) is expressed on normal hematopoietic cells but has recently been described as a novel marker for MRD+ ALL cells. We previously described a role of alpha6 as a critical molecule in drug resistance of ALL. Here we extend our studies evaluating a novel non-humanized antibody targeting alpha6, P5G10, as a novel therapy against drug resistant ALL.