T Cells in Predicting Acute Graft-Versus-Host Disease in Patients Undergoing Donor Stem Cell Transplant

OBJECTIVES:

To determine the association between regulatory T-lymphocyte (Treg) subsets present at engraftment and at day 28 with the incidence of acute graft-versus-host-disease (aGVHD) in patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplantation.
To identify gut-homing and skin-homing Treg subsets and determine their role during engraftment and at day 28 as a predictor of gut and skin aGVHD, respectively.

OUTLINE: Patients undergo blood sample collection at the time of neutrophil engraftment prior to stem cell transplant (SCT) and post-SCT on days 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Blood samples are analyzed for T-cell subsets and for the percentage of regulatory T-lymphocyte (Treg) or other T-cell subsets expressing specific homing receptors for the gut or skin via flow cytometry.

Patients' medical records are also reviewed periodically.