Objective: To analyse our series patients' data to assess its efficacy and safety of donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) associated post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLD) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).
Methods: Patients received HSCT from November 2006 to November 2009 and diagnosed as EBV associated PTLD by pathological or clinical methods were enrolled in this study. Lymphocyte was prepared by COBE collector. Related haplo-donors were the alternative if the original donors was unavailable. A range of mononuclear cell (MNC) dose of (0.5 - 1.0) × 10(8)/kg was designed and the expected number of T lymphocyte included was at level of 10(7)/kg. Cyclosporine (CsA) trough concentration was kept in a therapeutic level.
Results: Nine patients with PTLD received DLI 13 times, the median number of PBMC infused was 0.8 (0.16 - 1.03) × 10(8)/kg, CD(3)(+)T cell number was 4.2 (1.6 - 5.7) × 10(7)/kg. Seven patients received peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from original haplo-identical donors, with 7 response and 6 complete remission. Defervescence occurred after 2 (1 - 5) d, and adenopathy began to recover in 6 (1 - 14) d after the initial infusion of leukocytes. Graft versus host diseases (GVHD) occurred in 6 recipients out of 7 evaluable patients, and all were controlled successfully. Three patients survived for 38, 23 and 3 months after PTLD.
Conclusion: In this small series cases, infusion of controlled dose of lymphocyte from primary donor is an effective and safe therapy for EBV associated PTLD after mismatched/haploidentical HSCT while the optimal regimen needs to be further studied.