Abstract:
Objective This study aims to investigate the efficacy and safety of allogenic lymphocyte transfusion (ALT) for the prevention and treatment of relapsed leukemia after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).
Methods Data of 35 consecutive leukemia patients receiving ALT in our hospital from 2000 to 2010 were retrospectively studied, among which 20 were receiving auto-HSCT and 15 were receiving allo-HSCT.
Results The three-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were 43.3% and 38.9%, respectively in all patients. In the auto-HSCT patients mainly undergoing preventative ALT, the three-year OS and DFS were 66.8% and 62.3%, respectively, whereas the complete remission and three-year OS for the allo-HSCT patients mainly receiving allo-HSCT were only 35.7% and 10.0%, respectively. The main cause of death in these patients included relapse of the disease (n=17), bone marrow inhibition(n=1), and acute graft-versus-host disease (n=1).
Conclusion ALT is an effective therapy for the prevention and treatment of relapsed leukemia. Preventative allo-HSCT may significantly improve the survival time for high-risk patients, without overt increase of treat ment-related mortality.