The Impact of HLA and KIR Ligand Mismatching on Unrelated Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Korean Adult Patients

BACKGROUND The impact of HLA and KIR ligand mismatching on the outcome of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) remains unclear. Previous reports have identified considerable ethnic differences in the impact of HLA and KIR ligand mismatches, as well as KIR ligand status, on HSCT; however, to date, no data has been acquired in Korean adult patients. METHODS We investigated the association of high-resolution HLA matching on five loci (HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1, and -DQB1), KIR ligand mismatching, and KIR ligand status on the outcome of allogeneic HSCT from unrelated donors in 154 Korean adult patients treated at Seoul National University Hospital. RESULTS In a multivariate analysis, less than 9/10 allelic matches in five HLA loci was an independent risk factor for acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) (grade II to IV) (P=0.019, odds ratio [OR]=2.7). In addition, HLA-A allele mismatching was increasingly prevalent in patients with acute GVHD compared to patients without (61.9% vs. 34.5%, P=0.06). For KIR ligand status, the patient and donor combination of both C1/C1 ligands showed better event-free and overall survival than combinations with C2 ligand patients or donors (P=0.048, P=0.034, respectively) by log-rank test. CONCLUSIONS Korean adult transplant patients with less than 9 of 10 HLA allele matches in the HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1, and DQB1 loci have a higher likelihood of developing acute GVHD (grade II to IV). Impact of KIR ligand status on clinical outcome should be further studied in a larger patient population.