Abstract
The reactivity of NK cells and some T cell populations is regulated by the interaction of KIRs with target cell HLA class I molecules. KIR interactions have been suggested to influence outcomes of haploidentical and HLA-identical allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplants, particularly for AML patients. We analyzed the KIR ligand phenotypes of 60 AML patients who received HLA-identical sibling myeloablative ABMT from 4/9/97-11/5/03. The median age was 45 yrs (range 8–62). At the time of transplant 24 patients (40%) were in CR. All patients received a busulfan/cyclophosphamide-based preparative regimen and all received bone marrow (T-cell replete) as their stem cell source. Patient HLA KIR ligands were categorized as: 1) HLA-Cw groups C1/C1, C2/C2, C1/C2; 2) HLA-Bw4 (+ or −); 3) HLA-A3 or A11 (+ or −) (as reviewed in
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This survival difference was associated with more relapse in the C1/C2 group (p=0.048), but not with incidence or severity of acute or chronic GVHD, age, infection or pretransplant disease status. There were 26/34 (76%) deaths in the C1/C2 group with 15 (58%) due to relapse as compared to 13/26 (50%) deaths in the C1/C1 + C2/C2 group where 4/13 (31%) were due to relapse. The median follow up of survivors was 36.3 mos (range 7.8–72.4 mos). No significant differences in outcomes were observed when patients were analyzed for the presence or absence of HLA-Bw4 or A3/11. The majority of patients had KIR genotyping performed for those KIRs with established HLA ligands. Among those tested there were no cases in which the donor did not have at least one inhibitory KIR gene specific for a Cw ligand present in the patient or donor. This may suggest that KIR expression at the cellular level rather than KIR genotype alone should be investigated. In conclusion, AML patients undergoing matched sibling donor ABMT who were heterozygous for HLA-Cw KIR ligand groups (C1/C2) had reduced survival compared to patients homozygous for these groups. The higher relapse rate observed in the heterozygous ligand group may suggest a less effective graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) response. Since C1/C2 heterozygotes have a greater opportunity to engage inhibitory KIRs than do C1 or C2 homozygotes, they may more effectively inhibit KIR-positive NK and T cell populations involved in GVL responses.
