Useful For/Utility

Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) is a therapeutic option available for treatment of numerous malignancies and inherited genetic disorders. Monitoring engraftment following allogeneic HCT is necessary for early documentation of engraftment, detection and timely treatment of graft rejection or early relapse. The presence of lympho-hematopoietic cells of donor origin after allogeneic HCT is referred to as "chimerism". The kinetics of engraftment in different cell populations has been found to be different among T cells. Natural Killer (NK) cells, granulocytes and monocytes. Generally donor T cell chimerism has been found to lag behind donor myeloid chimerism. Early patterns of T and NK cell chimerism have predicted patients at increased risk of graft rejection and graft versus host disease. Hence lineage-specific chimerism (i.e. monitoring of engraftment is specific subsets) may provide valuable clinical information in identifying patients at high risk for adverse clinical events.