A graft-versus-colonic cancer effect of allogeneic stem cell transplantation.
Allogeneic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) has proved to have an important immune-mediated anti-tumour effect in patients with haematologic malignancies. There is also evidence of such an effect in patients with malignant tumours. We studied this effect of ASCT in a patient with colorectal cancer. A 77-year-old man having a primarily resected colonic cancer with disseminated lymph node involvement received ASCT from his HLA-identical sibling as the only treatment. Mixed haematopoietic chimerism was monitored using PCR-amplification of variable number tandem repeats and tumour size, assessed by repeated CT scans. Recipient leucocytes were gradually replaced by donor cells for 1 month. Continuous resolution of lymph node metastases was seen together with clinical graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). The patient died of pneumonia and cardiac insufficiency 4 months after transplantation. At autopsy, most of the metastases were necrotic, with few remaining tumour cells. Clinical and histopathological postmortem results showed a graft-versus-colorectal cancer effect.
Zetterquist
H
H
Department of Surgery, Karolinska Institutet at Huddinge University Hospital, SE-141 86 Stockholm, Sweden.
Hentschke
P
P
Thörne
A
A
Wernerson
A
A
Mattsson
J
J
Uzunel
M
M
Martola
J
J
Albiin
N
N
Aschan
J
J
Papadogiannakis
N
N
Ringdén
O
O
D000368:Aged; D002678:Chimera; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D020350:Graft vs Tumor Effect; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous