Treatment of Patients With Hematological Malignancies Using Marrow Transplantation From Unrelated Donors Incompatible for One HLA Locus Antigen

OBJECTIVES:

• Compare the incidence of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) grades III and IV in patients with hematologic malignancies treated with bone marrow transplantation (BMT) using donors with 1 HLA-A or B non-cross-reactive group mismatch vs control patients previously treated with BMT using donors with 1 HLA-A or B cross-reactive group (CREG) mismatch.
• Compare the incidence of GVHD grades III and IV in patients with hematologic malignancies treated with BMT using donors with 1 HLA-A or B CREG mismatch vs control patients previously treated with BMT using matched donors.
• Determine the relevance of HLA-DRB1 or DQB1 allele mismatching in BMT using donors matched for HLA-A, B, and C.

OUTLINE: Beginning at least 3 weeks after completion of cytoreductive combination chemotherapy, patients under age 18 undergo total body irradiation (TBI) twice a day on days -7 to -4. Patients age 18 and over undergo TBI twice a day on days -6 to -4. All patients then receive cyclophosphamide IV daily on days -3 and -2. Males with acute lymphocytic leukemia, high-grade lymphoma, intermediate-grade lymphoma, or marrow or CNS involvement receive radiotherapy boost to the testes. On day 0, patients receive infusion of bone marrow from unrelated donors with 1 of the following: 1 HLA-A or B non-cross-reactive group mismatch; 1 HLA-A or B cross-reactive group mismatch; or an HLA-A, B, and C match with an HLA-DRB1 or DQB1 mismatch.

Patients are followed every 6 months for 2 years and then annually thereafter.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 150 patients will be accrued for this study within 5 years.