Effect of HLA Compatibility on Engraftment of Bone Marrow Transplants in Patients with Leukemia or Lymphoma

Abstract
We analyzed the relevance of HLA compatibility to sustained marrow engraftment in 269 patients with hematologic neoplasms who underwent bone marrow transplantations. Each patient received marrow from a family member who shared one HLA haplotype with the patient but differed to a variable degree for the HLA-A, B, and D antigens of the haplotype not shared. These 269 patients were compared with 930 patients who received marrow from siblings with identical HLA genotypes. All patients were treated with cyclophosphamide and total-body irradiation followed by the infusion of unmodified donor marrow cells.