mTORC1 inhibition upregulates CD20 and enhances anti-CD20 antibody efficacy in B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Dąbkowska A, Janowska M, Pastorczak A, Domka K, Nowicka Z, Urbanska Z, Zając W, Bugajewski M, Grzybowska J, Pruchniak P, Fidyt K, …, Firczuk M · 2026 · Leukemia · Atlas ID DAB2026

What this study shows

mTORC1 inhibitors upregulate CD20 via the AKT-FOXO1 axis and promote B-lineage maturation in B-cell precursor ALL, enhancing the antitumor efficacy of anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies -- including in high-risk IKZF1-deleted disease -- providing a rationale for combining mTORC1 inhibition with CD20-directed immunotherapy.

Abstract

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B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) is characterized by impaired B-cell maturation and poor prognosis in relapsed/refractory (R/R) cases. While CD20-targeted immunotherapies offer clinical benefit, their efficacy is limited by low and heterogeneous CD20 expression on BCP-ALL cells. In this study, we demonstrate that overexpression of wild-type IKZF1, a tumor suppressor frequently mutated in high-risk BCP-ALL, upregulates CD20 and promotes leukemic B cell maturation.

Read the full abstract on PubMed →

At a glance

Evidence type	M Molecular — cells, biochemistry, structure Marked M because it is molecular or in-vitro work (model: BCP-ALL cell lines; patient-derived and in vivo models) rather than a whole-organism health-outcome study. That is often exactly where causal biology gets established -- the code says which system the finding was shown in, and nothing about how good the work is.
Study type	5 - Mechanistic / In Vitro
Model system	BCP-ALL cell lines; patient-derived and in vivo models
Journal	Leukemia
Year	2026
Peer reviewed	Yes
Record last updated	2026-10-01
Source	DOI 10.1038/s41375-026-03093-z · PMID 42618701

Extracted findings

These fields were extracted from the paper with AI assistance and have not been checked against the source. Read them as a pointer into the paper, not as curated claims; where they disagree with the curated summary above, the curated summary stands.

Intervention	mTORC1 inhibitors; wild-type IKZF1 overexpression; anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody combination
Target	mTORC1, with CD20 induction via the AKT-FOXO1 axis
Model	human BCP-ALL cell lines, patient-derived models and in vivo models
Effect	mTORC1 inhibition raised CD20 and promoted B-lineage maturation, improving anti-CD20 antibody efficacy including in IKZF1-deleted models.

In the Atlas

Cite this paper

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Dąbkowska, A., Janowska, M., Pastorczak, A., Domka, K., Nowicka, Z., Urbanska, Z., Zając, W., Bugajewski, M., Grzybowska, J., Pruchniak, P., Fidyt, K., Fendler, W., Taslim, J., Crump, N. T., Ushmorov, A., Patkowska, E., & Firczuk, M. (2026). mTORC1 inhibition upregulates CD20 and enhances anti-CD20 antibody efficacy in B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Leukemia. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41375-026-03093-z

@article{DAB2026,
  author       = {Dąbkowska, A. and Janowska, M. and Pastorczak, A. and Domka, K. and Nowicka, Z. and Urbanska, Z. and Zając, W. and Bugajewski, M. and Grzybowska, J. and Pruchniak, P. and Fidyt, K. and Fendler, W. and Taslim, J. and Crump, N. T. and Ushmorov, A. and Patkowska, E. and Firczuk, M.},
  title        = {{mTORC1 inhibition upregulates CD20 and enhances anti-CD20 antibody efficacy in B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia}},
  journal      = {Leukemia},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {10.1038/s41375-026-03093-z},
  note         = {PMID: 42618701},
}

Cite this Atlas record

The record is the Atlas's own work — the evidence label, the extracted findings and the links. It is cited as part of the dataset, not as the paper.

Barton, O. (2026). Oliver's mTOR Atlas (record DAB2026) [Data set]. https://mtor-atlas.org/study/DAB2026/ · Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22059963

@misc{atlas_DAB2026,
  author       = {Barton, Oliver},
  title        = {{Oliver's mTOR Atlas}, record DAB2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://mtor-atlas.org/study/DAB2026/},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22059963}
}

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