Infusions of recipient-derived cytokine-induced killer cells of donor origin eradicated residual disease in a relapsed leukemia patient after allo-hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

A female patient diagnosed with acute myelocytic leukemia M5a (AML-M5a) relapsed 986 days after her allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (allo-PBSCT) from an unrelated male donor with matched human leukocyte antigen (HLA). Three re-induction chemotherapies were administered, and partial remission was achieved. The patient was given repetitive infusion of cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells expanded from recipient peripheral mononuclear cells of full donor chimerism due to loss of contact of quondam donor for donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) and rejection of second transplantation. The patient achieved complete cytogenetical remission. This strategy might overcome the obstacle of donor unavailability and present an appealing new therapeutic alternative to donor-recruited adoptive immunotherapy for relapsed disease at post-transplantation.