Treatment of leukemia relapse after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation by donor lymphocyte infusion and STI-571.

Donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) has become standard therapy for relapse after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). 1-3 However, results in acute leukemia are disappointing, probably because of the high proliferative capacity of blast cells and the delayed anti-leukemic effect of DLI. STI-571 is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor that has substantial activity in Ph-chromosome-positive acute leukemia. We present a patient illustrating that the association of STI-571 (early reduction of the proportion of blasts) and DLI (delayed anti-leukemic activity) may be useful.