The influence of graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis on the donor natural killer cell alloreactivity after /TCR/CD19+-depleted allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in pediatric patients with acute leukemia

Natural killer (NK) cells form the first lymphocyte population recovering after an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) molecules serve as ligands for KIR (killer cell immunoglobulinlike-receptors, KIRs) family receptors and NK-alloreactivity is based on a KIR-HLA mismatch between donor and patient as well as the donor’s KIR genotype. A large number of studies points out that the effectiveness of the graft-versus-leukemia reaction depends on many factors, specifically, donor’s KIR genotype and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis regimen. Aim: The aim of this study was the evaluating of donor’s KIR genotype influence on the relapse risk and survival in acute leukemia patients with an identical GVHD prophylaxis regimen after allogeneic HLA-haploidentical related and HLA-identical unrelated HSCT. Matherials and methods: The study includes 47 patients (the median age 9) with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (n = 34) and acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) (n = 13) received first HLA-identical unrelated (n = 20) and HLA-haploidentical (n = 27) with α/βTCR-depleted allogeneic HSCT...