Increased frequency of TCR gamma delta + T cells in disease-free survivors following T cell-depleted, partially mismatched, related donor bone marrow transplantation for leukemia.
Recent interest has focused on the function of gamma delta + T cells in immune responses. However, their role in allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) remains undefined. We report on a group of 43 leukemia patients who survived for at least 100 days following transplantation using partially HLA-mismatched grafts from related donors that were T cell depleted with the anti-TCR alpha beta monoclonal antibody T10B9.1A-31 and complement. Ten patients (23.2%) were found to have an increased (> or = 10%) proportion of gamma delta + T cells in the peripheral blood at 60-270 days after BMT. All of these patients remain alive, and 9 (90% of patients with > or = 10% gamma delta + cells) are free of disease at 2.5 years compared with a disease-free survival probability of 31% among patients with a normal proportion and concentration of gamma delta + T cells. No other factor was found to be independently associated with improved survival in these patients. These data suggest a possible association between an increase in the percentage and number of gamma delta + T cells and improved disease-free survival following transplantation from a partially mismatched related donor.
Lamb
L S
LS
Division of Transplantation Medicine, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Columbia 29203, USA.
Henslee-Downey
P J
PJ
Parrish
R S
RS
Godder
K
K
Thompson
J
J
Lee
C
C
Gee
A P
AP
D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006085:Graft Survival / Q000276:immunology*; D006650:Histocompatibility Testing; D006801:Humans; D007938:Leukemia / Q000628:therapy*; D008212:Lymphocyte Depletion; D008297:Male; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta / Q000276:immunology*; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta