ABSTRACT
It is clear that the immune system is particularly important in achieving the cure associated with allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT). This is especially true for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), as supported by a number of clinical observations. In patients who remain leukemia free for many years after SCT, BCR-ABL transcripts often remain detectable in the first few weeks after transplantation, though they disappear by around 6 months after SCT, suggesting that an ongoing immune response may be important in conferring cure. T-cell depletion of the graft has been widely used to mitigate the effects of graft versus host disease, but is associated with an increased relapse rate. Post-SCT relapse of CML responds to infusions of donor T lymphocytes, and such responses may be curative.
