Donor KIR2DL1 Allelic Polymorphism Influences Posthematopoietic Progenitor Cell Transplantation Outcomes in the T Cell Depleted and Reduced Intensity Conditioning Setting

• Published in: Transplantation and cellular therapy Vol. 30; no. 5; pp. 488.e1 - 488.e15
• Main Authors: Wright, Paul A., van de Pasch, Loes A.L., Dignan, Fiona L., Kichula, Katherine M., Pollock, Nicholas R., Norman, Paul J., Marchan, Earl, Hill, Lesley, Vandelbosch, Sanne, Fullwood, Catherine, Sheldon, Stephen, Hampson, Lynne, Tholouli, Eleni, Poulton, Kay V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01-05-2024
• Subjects: Donor selection; HPCT; HSCT; KIR; Stem cell transplant; Transplant; HPCT; Stem cell transplant; KIR; HSCT; Donor selection; Transplant
• ISSN: 2666-6367; 2666-6367
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jtct.2024.02.014

•KIR2DL1*003 positive grafts are detrimental for both 5-year disease-free survival and relapse incidence.•KIR2DL1*003 heterozygous and KIR2DL1*003 homozygous grafts did not present significantly different post-transplant outcomes.•These findings were in a cohort of reduced intensity conditioning, T cell depleted hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation patients. It is possible that post-transplant outcome associations with KIR may vary with transplantation protocol.
The majority of established KIR clinical assessment algorithms used for donor selection for hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation (HPCT) evaluate gene content (presence/absence) of the KIR gene complex. In comparison, relatively little is known about the impact of KIR allelic polymorphism. By analyzing donors of T cell depleted (TcD) reduced intensity conditioning (RIC) HPCT, this study investigated the influence on post-transplant outcome of 2 polymorphic residues of the inhibitory KIR2DL1. The aim of this study was to expand upon existing research into the influence of KIR2DL1 allelic polymorphism upon post-transplant outcome. The effects of allele groups upon transplant outcomes were investigated within a patient cohort using a defined treatment protocol of RIC with TcD. Using phylogenetic data, KIR2DL1 allelic polymorphism was categorized into groups on the basis of variation within codons 114 and 245 (positive or negative for the following groups: KIR2DL1*002/001g, KIR2DL1*003, KIR2DL1*004g) and the identification of null alleles. The influence of these KIR2DL1 allele groups in hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation (HPCT) donors was assessed in the post-transplant data of 86 acute myelogenous leukemia patients receiving RIC TcD HPCT at a single center. KIR2DL1 allele groups in the donor significantly impacted upon 5-year post-transplant outcomes in RIC TcD HPCT. Donor KIR2DL1*003 presented the greatest influence upon post-transplant outcomes, with KIR2DL1*003 positive donors severely reducing 5-year post-transplant overall survival (OS) compared to those receiving a transplant from a KIR2DL1*003 negative donor (KIR2DL1*003 pos versus neg: 27.0% versus 60.0%, P = .008, pc = 0.024) and disease-free survival (DFS) (KIR2DL1*003 pos versus neg: 23.5% versus 60.0%, P = .004, pc = 0.012), and increasing 5-year relapse incidence (KIR2DL1*003 pos versus neg: 63.9% versus 27.2%, P = .009, pc = 0.027). KIR2DL1*003 homozygous and KIR2DL1*003 heterozygous grafts did not present significantly different post-transplant outcomes. Donors possessing the KIR2DL1*002/001 allele group were found to significantly improve post-transplant outcomes, with donors positive for the KIR2DL1*004 allele group presenting a trend towards improvement. KIR2DL1*002/001 allele group (KIR2DL1*002/001g) positive donors improved 5-year OS (KIR2DL1*002/001g pos versus neg: 56.4% versus 27.2%, P = .009, pc = 0.024) and DFS (KIR2DL1*002/001g pos versus neg: 53.8% versus 25.5%, P = .018, pc = 0.036). KIR2DL1*004 allele group (KIR2DL1*004g) positive donors trended towards improving 5-year OS (KIR2DL1*004g pos versus neg: 53.3% versus 35.5%, P = .097, pc = 0.097) and DFS (KIR2DL1*004g pos versus neg: 50.0% versus 33.9%, P = .121, pc = 0.121), and reducing relapse incidence (KIR2DL1*004g pos versus neg: 33.1% versus 54.0%, P = .079, pc = 0.152). The presented findings suggest donor selection algorithms for TcD RIC HPCT should consider avoiding KIR2DL1*003 positive donors, where possible, and contributes to the mounting evidence that KIR assessment in donor selection algorithms should reflect the conditioning regime protocol used.