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Another step forward towards improved outcome after HLA-haploidentical stem cell transplantation

Leukemia volume 18, pages 1769–1771 (2004)Cite this article

In this issue, Passweg et al1 report that delayed infusion of ex vivo purified natural killer (NK) cells influences the course of instable mixed chimerism in patients after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) from HLA-haploidentical donors. Five patients with high-risk myeloid malignancies presented with mixed chimerism, impending graft failure or early relapse, respectively. After infusion of a median of 1.61 × 107/kg CD56+/CD3− cells and 2.2 × 104/kg CD3+ cells, three of these five patients demonstrated increasing donor chimerism and one showed stable mixed chimerism. No graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) occurred. This is a first report of delayed infusions of purified NK cells after HLA-haploidentical HSCT attempting sustained engraftment and full donor chimerism. However, whether this was a primary effect of the donor NK or T cells or a simple question of time is hard to be answered, as in this study chimerism analysis was carried out on the recipients' whole blood samples only.

Although HSCT from HLA-mismatched donors has a long history, many hindrances reduced the effectiveness of this procedure for a broader application, particularly in adult patients suffering from leukaemia.

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  1. Stem cell transplantation Unit, St Anna Children's Hospital, Vienna, Austria

    C Peters

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Correspondence to C Peters.

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Peters, C. Another step forward towards improved outcome after HLA-haploidentical stem cell transplantation. Leukemia 18, 1769–1771 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2403527

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