title: Immune recovery and immunotherapy after stem cell transplantation in children.
abstract: Careful longitudinal studies of the lymphoid cell recovery after stem cell transplantation with other than HLA-identical sibling donors illustrated the prolonged T- and B-cellular immunodeficiency post-SCT, whereas NK-cell recovery was fast. Only low numbers of CD45RO memory T-cells, with a restricted TCR-repertoire, are present in the first 6 months post-SCT. The consequence is an increased risk of viral infections and possibly of leukemia relapse. The latter complication can be prevented by enhancing the anti-leukemic immune reactivity shortly after SCT. Different technical approaches were presented, the majority of them still being in the pre-clinical phase. NK-cell reactivity based on KIR-epitope mismatches between donor and recipient are promising for AML- and CML-, not for ALL-patients. The ALL-blasts may be killed by an antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity, using anti-CD19 antibodies, as was shown to be effective in vitro. Also the generation of leukemia-specific CTL's, making use of differences in minor histocompatibility antigens between donor and recipient, is now operational and may be a highly effective approach in a number of leukemic graft recipients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Haemato-Oncology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Vossen
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Handgretinger
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007153:Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes / Q000628:therapy*; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D007938:Leukemia / Q000517:prevention & control; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008221:Lymphoid Tissue / Q000276:immunology; D055502:Secondary Prevention