title: Current status of haploidentical stem cell transplantation.
abstract: Haploidentical stem cell transplantation is an alternative transplant strategy for patients without an human leucocyte antigen-matched donor. The historical experience with haploidentical stem cell transplantation has been characterised by the immunological consequences of crossing a major histocompatibility barrier, namely graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), graft rejection and impaired immune reconstitution. Ex vivo T-cell depletion of the graft may reduce the risk of GVHD, but at the expense of a higher risk of engraftment failure and relapse of the underlying malignancy. Myeloablative transplant strategies using vigorously T-cell-depleted 'megadose' stem cells appear to have improved the outcomes of selected patients with acute leukaemia. Non-myeloablative stem cell transplantation strategies, in which mixed chimaerism as a platform for adoptive cellular immunotherapy is intentionally induced, show promise for limiting GVHD and lessening transplant-related mortality. Future approaches, based on promising preclinical and early clinical observations, may include selective allodepletion of the graft, and manipulation of the cellular environment post-transplant using selected cellular populations or immunomodulatory soluble factors.
authors.affiliation: Bone Marrow Transplant Program, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Bimalangshu R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Dey
authors.forename: Thomas R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Spitzer
mesh_terms: D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000517:prevention & control; D006239:Haplotypes; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D006648:Histocompatibility; D006650:Histocompatibility Testing; D006801:Humans; D018183:Transplantation Chimera; D019172:Transplantation Conditioning / Q000379:methods