Graft-versus-leukemia effect

Goldberg SL, Pecora AL, Rosenbluth RJ, Jennis AA, Preti RA. Treatment of leukemic relapse following unrelated umbilical cord blood transplantation with interleukin-2 potential for augmenting graft-versus-leukemia and graft-versus-host effects with cytokines. Bone Marrow Transplant 2000 26(3) 353-5. 

DLI appears to be effective in patients with mnltiple myeloma who relapse after alloHSCT, with reported response rates of 40% to 50% in patients relapsing after transplant." Unfortnnately, these responses tend to be transient and associated with the occurrence of GVHD. Anecdotal evidence suggests a graft-versus-lymphoma effect in patients with indolent non-Hodgkin s lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (a disease entity that is closely related to the indolent non-Hodgkin s lymphomas). 

Observational studies In 30 patients who underwent allogeneic stem-cell transplantation for leukemia and a retrospectively matched group of controls, the palifermin recipients who received a transplant from an unrelated donor had reduced severity, incidence, and duration of oral mucositis WHO grades 2—4, reduced need for opioid analgesics, and a shorter duration of total parenteral nutrition [15. However, there was no benefidal effect of palifermin on the incidence and severity of acute graft-versus-host disease. Febrile neutropenia. 

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