HLA-DRB1 HED Predicts Improved Survival after Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant

HLA-DRB1 HED also associated with lower risk of relapse following transplantation in study

At the 2023 American Society of Hematology annual meeting, Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital at Hackensack University Medical Center researcher Christine Camacho-Bydume, M.D., presented a study demonstrating that HLA-DRB1 HED predicts improved survival after a donated stem cell transplant.

In conjunction with the Center of Blood Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR), the study, for which Dr. Camacho-Bydume is lead author, addresses the concern that despite advances in disease monitoring and maintenance therapies, the risk of relapse after allogeneic stem cell transplantation in patients with blood cancers remains high.

The study explored the outcome prediction potential of high HLA evolutionary divergence (HED), which promotes a diverse repertoire of antigens that may heighten tumor surveillance and enhance the anti-cancer effect of the graft. This evaluation showed that high HLA-DRB1 HED correlated with better survival and a lower risk of relapse in patients with hematologic malignancies after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

As a result of these findings, HLA-DRB1 may play a more integral role in tumor surveillance and may have implications for donor selection, particularly for HLA-mismatched settings, in the future.

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