Typing of KIR genes in unrelated hematopoietic stem cell transplants: influence of the donor KIR genotype on the outcome of the transplant.

In recent years, the anti-leukemic potential of Natural Killer (NK) cells and their role in hematologic malignancies and in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplants (HSCT) has attracted greater interest and a recent study by Cooley S. et al. showed a better clinical outcome when patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia received a transplant from unrelated Group B KIR haplotypes donors. As a consequence of these results, an algorithm called "KIR B-content score" was formulated, based on the number of centromeric and telomeric Group B KIR haplotypes gene-content motifs. The KIR B-content score defines three categories of donors: Neutral donors have none or one KIR B motifs, Better donors have two or m…