Abstract
A patient with acute lymphocytic leukemia developed a functioning erythroid homograft after transfusion of leukocytes from donors with chronic myelocytic leukemia. Two donor populations were observed cytogenetically, by examination of the recipient’s marrow for sex and Philadelphia chromosomes. The cells from a female donor of different blood group eventually repopulated the entire bone marrow and were exclusively responsible for the function of the homograft. Although the donor was anemic and required periodic transfusions, her transplanted cells caused normal erythropoiesis in the recipient for a prolonged period. During this time the recipient enjoyed remission of acute leukemia but expired as a result of overwhelming infection. It is proposed that multiple transfusions of leukocytes is a useful technic for treatment of infection, for increasing knowledge of factors influencing hematopoiesis, and for studying approaches to effective immunotherapy of leukemia.
