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Blood, 1 December 2008, Vol. 112, No. 12, pp. 4371-4383. This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Rights and Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kolb, H.-J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kolb, H.-J. Related Collections Hematopoiesis and Stem Cells Neoplasia Transplantation Free Research Articles ASH 50th Anniversary Reviews Social Bookmarking                   What's this?  Previous Article  |  Table of Contents  |  Next Article  ASH 50TH ANNIVERSARY REVIEWS Graft-versus-leukemia effects of transplantation and donor lymphocytes Hans-Jochem Kolb1 1 Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, Department of Medicine 3, University of Munich & Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen–National Research Centre for Environmental Health, Munich, Germany Allogeneic transplantation of hematopoietic cells is an effective treatment of leukemia, even in advanced stages. Allogeneic lymphocytes produce a strong graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) effect, but the beneficial effect is limited by graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Depletion of T cells abrogates GVHD and GVL effects. Delayed transfusion of donor lymphocytes into chimeras after T cell–depleted stem cell transplantation produces a GVL effect without necessarily producing GVHD. Chimerism and tolerance provide a platform for immunotherapy using donor lymphocytes. The allogeneic GVL effects vary from one disease to another, the stage of the disease, donor histocompatibility, the degree of chimerism, and additional treatment. Immunosuppressive therapy before donor lymphocyte transfusions may augment the effect as well as concomitant cytokine treatment. Possible target antigens are histocompatibility antigens and tumor-associated antigens. Immune escape of tumor cells and changes in the reactivity of T cells are to be considered. Durable responses may be the result of the elimination of leukemia stem cells or the establishment of a durable immune control on their progeny. Recently, we have learned from adoptive immunotherapy of viral diseases and HLA-haploidentical stem cell transplantation that T-cell memory may be essential for the effective treatment of leukemia and other malignancies. CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this? This article has been cited by other articles: F. Locatelli Tolerance: pregnancy matters Blood, September 10, 2009; 114(11): 2208 - 2209. [Full Text] [PDF] L. Vago, S. K. Perna, M. Zanussi, B. Mazzi, C. Barlassina, M. T. L. Stanghellini, N. F. Perrelli, C. Cosentino, F. Torri, A. Angius, et al. Loss of Mismatched HLA in Leukemia after Stem-Cell Transplantation N. Engl. J. Med., July 30, 2009; 361(5): 478 - 488. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] M. Merad and M. G. Manz Dendritic cell homeostasis Blood, April 9, 2009; 113(15): 3418 - 3427. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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