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Allografting

Association of natural killer cells in allografts with transplant outcomes in patients receiving G-CSF-mobilized PBSC grafts and G-CSF-primed BM grafts from HLA-haploidentical donors

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 44, pages 721–728 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of natural killer (NK) cells on transplant outcomes in patients receiving G-CSF-mobilized PBSC grafts and G-CSF-primed BM grafts from HLA-haploidentical donors. Forty-one haploidentical allogeneic hematopoietic SCT patients were analyzed according to the NK cell concentration in relation to acute GVHD (aGVHD), chronic GVHD (cGVHD), TRM and leukemia-free survival. The patients receiving a higher dose of CD56bright NK cells (>1.9 × 106/kg) showed a higher incidence of grades II–IV aGVHD (hazard risk (HR), 2.872; P=0.022) and cGVHD (HR, 2.884; P=0.039). A higher CD56dim/CD56bri NK cell ratio (>8.0) was correlated with a decreased risk of III–IV aGVHD (HR, 0.290; P=0.065) and TRM (HR, 0.072; P=0.012), thereby increasing the rate of leukemia-free survival (HR, 0.174; P=0.007) after haploidentical transplantation without in vitro T-cell depletion. Our results suggest that a high allograft CD56dim/CD56bright NK cell ratio (>8.0) plays an important role in improving transplant outcomes. A higher dose of CD56bright NK cells might be a predictor for a higher incidence of GVHD.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 30800485), National Outstanding Young Scientist's Foundation of China (Grant no. 30725038), Hi-Tech Research and Development Program of China (no. 2006AA02Z4A0), Program for Innovative Research Team in University (IRT0702) and Beijing Nova program 2008605.

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  1. Department of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation, Peking University Institute of Hematology, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, China

    X-Y Zhao, Y-J Chang, L-P Xu, D-H Liu, K-Y Liu & X-J Huang

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Correspondence to X-J Huang.

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Zhao, XY., Chang, YJ., Xu, LP. et al. Association of natural killer cells in allografts with transplant outcomes in patients receiving G-CSF-mobilized PBSC grafts and G-CSF-primed BM grafts from HLA-haploidentical donors. Bone Marrow Transplant 44, 721–728 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2009.73

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