OBJECTIVETo investigate the efficacy of donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) for treating relapsed high-risk leukemia patients after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT).

METHODSThe data of 15 leukemia patients who had received DLI and 13 leukemia patients who had not received DLI in Zhujiang Hospital from 2000 to 2014 were studied retrospectively, and their 1 and 3 year overall survival rate (OS) were compared between the two groups.

RESULTSIn 15 patients received DLI, the 1 and 3 year OS were 58.3% and 46.7%, the 1 and 3 year disease-free survival (DFS) were 22.0% and 11.0%, respectively. The main death cause in these patients included relapse (n = 5) and acute GVHD (n = 1), whereas in 13 patients who had not received DLI, the 1 and 3 year OS were 29.9% and 15.0% respectively, their 1 year DFS were 11.2%. The main death cause in these patients were relapse (n = 9). The 1 and 3 year OS of patients who had received DLI was higher as compared with the patients who had not received DLI. but this difference was no statistically significant (P = 0.069).

CONCLUSIONDLI is an effective method for treating patients with relapsed leukemia, and may improve the therapeutic efficacy of DLI by combining other methods or alternating the types of the donor lymphocytes.