Increased effect of IMiDs by addition of cytokine-induced killer cells in multiple myeloma

Immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs), such as thalidomide, lenalidomide and pomalidomide, represent the basic principle of multiple myeloma treatment. However, the development of resistance is a limiting factor. Over the last years, the efficient application of cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells has been reported as an alternative strategy to treat hematological neoplasms. In this study, we tested for a potential synergistic effect by combining the IMiDs thalidomide, lenalidomide and pomalidomide with CIK cells in different myeloma cell lines in vitro. Myeloma cells tested with CIK cells were significantly reduced. In the combination, myeloma cells were significantly reduced compared with cells only tested with IMiDs but not to the cells tested with CIK cells. Otherwise, the number of CIK cells was significantly reduced when treated with IMiDs. Because IMiDs are active in patients with myeloma, these results lead to the expectation that combination of IMiDs and CIK cells achieve better results in the treatment of multiple myeloma compared with the single use of IMiDs. Therefore, further examinations in an in vivo setting are necessary to have a closer look on the cellular interactions. Copyright (c) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.