In the past, only patients with fully HLA-matched donors were able to benefit from blood or bone-marrow transplantation (BMT) for a variety of haematological malignancies. Owing to the development of a variety of immunomodulatory strategies, patients with no HLA-matched donor, who can therefore receive an HLA-haploidentical BMT, can expect the same or similar outcomes as those receiving HLA-matched BMT. In this Review, the authors describe the new approaches to immunomodulation that have made HLA-haploidentical BMT a realistic therapeutic approach.
- Christopher G. Kanakry
- Ephraim J. Fuchs
- Leo Luznik