Olsen KS, Jadi O, Dexheimer S, et al. Shared Graft-vs-Leukemia Minor Histocompatibility Antigens in DISCOVeRY-BMT. Blood Advances. 2022; (doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2022008863).

Identifying shared minor histocompatibility antigens (mHAs) among donor-recipient pairs (DRPs) in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (allo-HCT) may represent a viable means of expanding certain immunotherapies. Although T-cell responses to mHAs promote graft versus leukemia (GVL) activity and improve allo-HCT efficacy, they also contribute to graft versus host disease (GVHD). Specifically targeting mHAs that are expressed only in hematopoietic tissue (GVL mHAs) promises to stimulate GVL effects without inviting more frequent and more acute GVHD. Within the DISCOVeRY-BMT dataset, which includes more than 3,200 allo-HCT DRPs, researchers discovered that many predicted GVL mHAs — labeled as such based on immunogenecity and other factors — are indeed highly shared. The group went on to validate two dozen predicted GVL mHAs that are frequent expressed in three common HLA alleles among DISCOVeRY-BMT patients.

Read More

Tags: GVHD, transplantation, Cellular therapy, Allogeneic, leukemia, stem call, acute, Transplant, Acute GVHD, donor, Recipient, antigen, graft, graft-vs-host disease, allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant, graft-versus-host