SUCCESSFUL DONOR LEUKOCYTE TRANSFUSION AT MOLECULAR RELAPSE FOR A PATIENT WITH ACUTE MYELOID-LEUKEMIA WHO WAS TREATED WITH ALLOGENEIC BONE-MARROW TRANSPLANTATION - IMPORTANCE OF THE MONITORING OF MINIMAL RESIDUAL DISEASE BY WT1 ASSAY

We report here that a patient,vith relapsed AML after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation achieved and maintained complete remission (CR) after effective donor leukocyte transfusion (DLT), without the occurr ence of GVHD and marrow aplasia, for more than 21 months. This continu ous CR maintenance is mainly due to the application of DLT at molecula r relapse that was diagnosed by monitoring minimal residual disease (M RD) by the quantitation of WT1 (Wilms tumor gene) expression levels (W T1 assay), The present case demonstrates that early application of DLT at molecular relapse is essential for the improvement of the efficacy of DLT for relapsed AML after BMT.